GIFT  OF 

Aiaucroit 
UDRARY 


A 


THE 


OEIGIN  AND   PKOGKESS 


THE  UNITED  STATES, 


BY 


WASHINGTON    M'CARTNEY,  ESQ. 
\\ 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PUBLISHED  BY  E.  H.  BUTLER  &  CO. 

1847. 


EI72 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1&16,  by 

E.   H.   BUTLER   &    CO., 

In  the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  in  and  for 
the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


GIFT  OF 

Baacrotl 
LIBRARY 


TO  THE 

YOUNG  MEN  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

THE  FOLLOWING  LECTURES  DESCRIPTIVE  OF  THE 

ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC, 

ARE  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED. 


88134.3 


CONTENTS. 


PRELIMINARY  LECTURE. 

Elements  of  human  history — The  historic  record— Civilization  and  the 
Divine  Plan — The  extent  of  history — The  kind  of  facts  it  makes 
known — Civilization — What  it  is,  and  how  made  known  in  history — 
Theories  concerning  progressive  civilization :  I.  The  Egyptian 
Civilization ;  II.  The  Grecian ;  III.  The  Chinese ;  IV.  The  Hin 
doo  ;  V.  The  Mexican  or  Aztec ;  VI.  The  Saracenic ;  VII.  The 
Germanic,  or  modern  European  Civilization — Connexion  of  these 
civilizations  with  each  other — influence  of  religion  and  commerce  on 
Civilization — Connexion  of  our  republic  with  the  European  Civili 
zation — Peculiarities  of  this  civilization  in  our  Republic :  Demo 
cracy  and  free  religion — The  Divine  Plan — Its  admission  gives 
unity  to  events  in  history — The  principle  of  design  illustrated — 
Benefits  of  a  historic  knowledge  of  institutions Page  13 


LECTURE  II. 
PERIOD  OF  DISCOVERY. 

The  events  of  our  history  to  be  viewed  as  agencies  in  the  establishment 
of  democratic  government — The  period  of  discovery  and  explora 
tion — The  discovery  rendered  inevitable :  I.  By  the  political  con 
dition  of  Europe  ;  II.  By  the  state  of  the  arts  and  sciences— The 
discovery  in  what  respects  accidental — Motives  which  led  to  the  ex 
ploration  of  the  country :  I.  The  desire  to  acquire  new  territory — 
The  rule  of  discovery ;  II.  The  hope  of  rinding  a  westward  passage 
to  India — Attempts  to  discover  such  a  passage — The  hope  of  finding 
gold  in  America — Fabulous  localities  —  Expedition  of  De  Soto. 
III.  The  desire  to  plant  colonies  in  America — Attempts  to  colonize 
the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence — Distribution  of  these  several  mo 
tives  of  exploration  among  the  English,  the  Spaniards  and  the 
French — Connexion  of  these  discoveries  and  explorations  with  our 
republic 55 


VI  CONTENTS. 

LECTURE   III. 
COLONIZATION  BY  CORPORATIONS. 

Period  of  Colonization — Connexion  of  its  events  with  democratic  go 
vernment — Attempts  at  colonization — The  first  attempt  is  made  by 
foreign  corporations—King  James's  charters — I.  Attempt  by  a  cor 
poration  to  colonize  Virginia ;  success,  difficulties,  and  final  failure — 
II.  Attempt  by  a  corporation  to  colonize  New  England  ;  difficulties, 
grants  of  territory,  and  failure — III.  Attempt  by  a  corporation  to 
settle  New  Sweden — IV.  Attempt  by  a  corporation  to  settle  the 
New  Netherlands:  The  Dutch  West  India  Company — V.  Attempt 
by  a  corporation  to  colonize  Georgia — Objects  and  difficulties — Suc 
cessive  failure  in  these  attempts — Causes  of  their  failure — Corpora 
tions  not  well  fitted  to  plant  colonies— Benefits  arising  from  their 
labours,  and  dissolution 86 

LECTURE  IV. 
FEUDAL  COLONIZATION. 

Attempts  at  American  Colonization  by  feudal  nobles — I.  First  of 
these  attempts  in  Maryland — Plan  of  Calvert :  liberty  of  conscience 
and  political  privileges — Results  of  his  attempt — II.  Attempt  at 
feudal  colonization  in  New  Jersey  and  New  York  ;  its  failure — III. 
Attempt  at  feudal  colonization  in  Pennsylvania;  its  character — Be 
comes  merged  in  democracy — Penn,  and  his  plan  for  a  colony — • 
IV.  Attempt  at  feudal  colonization  in  the  Carolinas ;  its  results — 
Locke's  constitutions — Character  and  results  of  all  these  attempts — 
Attempts  of  the  English  sovereigns  to  put  themselves  at  the  head 
of  American  colonization — The  two  ideas  which  were  the  cause  of 
these  royal  attempts :  I.  Inalienable  sovereignty ;  II.  Perpetual 
allegiance— These  ideas  unsuited  to  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the 
colonies — Successfully  resisted  by  the  colonists — Failure  of  the  royal 
attempts  to  control  the  colonies 114 


LECTURE  V. 
POPULAR  COLONIZATION. 

Popular  colonization:  I.  Attempts  by  the  people  directly  to  plant  co 
lonies—Settlement  of  New  England— First  constitution  formed  on 


CONTENTS. 


vii 


the  Mayflower— Pure  democracy— Religious  liberty— Roger  Wil 
liams  promulgates  entire  liberty  of  conscience  ;  II.  Attempts  by  the 
people  to  gain  the  control  of  colonies  planted  by  corporations  and 
feudal  nobles — Success  in  the  several  colonies — Causes  of  the  po 
pularization  of  all  the  colonies :  I.  Many  of  the  colonists  came  to 
escape  from  oppression  in  Europe — Connexion  of  the  Reformation 
with  liberty  in  America — Progress  of  liberal  opinion ;  II.  The 
emigrants  were  in  America  removed  from  the  influence  of  old  and 
illiberal  institutions — System  of  laws,  however,  carried  with  them 
to  America — Adaptation  of  the  common  law  to  the  colonies — Abo 
lition  of  the  law  of  primogeniture  —  All  the  colonial  movements 
tended  towards  popular  government — Conclusion  of  the  review  of 
American  colonization 142 


LECTURE  VI. 
CAUSES  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

The  colonies  in  general  managed  their  internal  affairs — England  con 
trolled  their  external  affairs — Different  interpretations  of  the  con 
nexion  of  the  colonies  with  England,  as  given,  (1)  by  the  king  ;  (2)  by 
the  parliament ;  (3)  by  the  colonists — I.  First  and  great  cause  of  the 
Revolution  to  be  found  in  the  commercial  policy  of  England  towards 
the  colonies — Commercial  system  of  Europe — Its  main  idea — Gives 
rise  to  the  colonial  system  of  Europe — England's  colonial  policy 
arising  from  the  commercial  system — Restrictions  on  the  colonies, 
(1)  in  favour  of  the  merchants  and  ship-owners ;  (2)  in  favour  of  the 
manufacturers;  (3)  in  favour  of  the  land-holders — Effect  on  the  co 
lonies — Reasons  of  their  submission  to  the  restrictions — II.  Second 
cause  of  the  Revolution  to  be  found  in  the  African  slave-trade — 
England's  participation  in  that  trade,  and  its  effect  on  the  colonies— 
Their  opposition  to  it  overruled — Motives  for  its  continuance — III. 
Third  cause  of  the  Revolution  found  in  the  destruction  of  the  colo 
nial  system  of  Europe — Commercial  wars  arise  among  the  European 
nations — Fall  of  the  colonial  system — Effect  on  the  colonies — IV. 
Fourth  cause  of  the  Revolution,  the  attempt  of  Great  Britain  to 
tax  the  colonies — Commencement  of  this  taxation — Reasons  of  the 
colonists  for  resisting  it — Origin  of  taxation  in  England — Theory 
of  the  British  Empire,  as  entertained  in  America  —  V.  Minor 
grievances  leading  to  the  Revolution — Interference  with  the  colonial 
currency — Importation  of  criminals — Violation  of  chartered  rights — 
These  causes  all  centred  in  the  commercial  system — Their  long-con 
tinued  action — Their  final  effect  in  the  liberation  of  America.  .  .  162 


Viii  CONTENTS. 

LECTURE  VII. 
THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

Military  and  political  parts  of  the  Revolution — Adverse  circumstances 
attending  the  military  part :  I.  Want  of  money  ;  II.  Want  of  a  well 
organized  army;  III.  Want  of  a  general  government ;  IV.  Exposed 
position  of  the  country  ;  V.  Border  warfare  of  the  Indians  ;  VI.  To 
ries — Favourable  circumstances  attending  the  military  part  of  the 
Revolution  :  I.  Character  of  the  people  ;  II.  Wisdom  and  energy  of 
Congress ;  III.  Fortunate  selection  of  military  men ;  IV.  Alliances 
with  foreign  nations ;  V.  Friends  in  England — Successful  conclusion 
of  the  military  part — The  political  part  of  the  Revolution — No  union 
among  the  colonies — Attempts  to  organize  a  government — I.  The 
Confederation ;  Its  characterizing  features  ;  (1)  Legislation  for  states  ; 
(2)  No  sanction  to  its  laws.  Its  practical  operation  :  Causes  of  its 
failure — II.  The  constitution  :  Circumstances  of  its  origin  ;  Its  pe 
culiar  nature  arising  from  a  compromise  of  views  and  interests  ;  Its 
characterizing  features  ;  (1)  Legislation  for  individuals,  not  states  ;  (2) 
Power  to  compel  obedience  to  its  laws  ;  (3)  Distribution  of  execu 
tive,  legislative,  and  judicial  power — The  adoption  of  the  constitution 
completed  the  Revolution — Nature  of  the  results  obtained  by  the 
Revolution — Legitimacy  and  Democracy — The  Revolution  the  termi 
nation  of  a  series  of  agencies  to  establish  popular  government.  .  206 


LECTURE  VIII. 
FEDERALISTS  AND  DEMOCRATS. 

Political  parties  arise  from  liberty — Origin  of  the  Federalists  and 
Anti-federalists — Views  of  parties  in  the  Convention  to  frame  the 
Constitution — State  Sovereignty  and  National  Sovereignty — The 
Federalists  and  Democrats — Their  primary  dividing  line — They 
divided  upon  the  strength  or  weakness  of  the  national  government 
—Their  main  ideas — Their  names — Measures  on  which  they  dif 
fered  :  I.  They  differed  in  regard  to  the  public  debt — Origin  of  that 
debt — Views  of  parties  in  reference  to  it — Results  respecting  it ; 
II.  They  differed  in  regard  to  a  National  Bank — Grounds  of  their 
opposition  to  that  measure — Reasons  urged  for  it  by  the  Federalists 
— Jefferson  and  Hamilton  became  the  leaders — Their  respective 
views  and  characters  ;  III.  The  parties  differed  in  regard  to  our  re 
lations  with  France  and  Great  Britain — Claim  of  France  upon  the 
United  States  for  aid  in  the  wars  of  the  French  Revolution — Pro- 


CONTENTS.  IX 

clamation  of  neutrality — Effect  upon  the  parties — Relations  with 
Great  Britain — Provisions — Right  of  Search — Jay's  Treaty — Their 
effect  upon  the  parties — French  war  threatened — Position  of  the 
.  parties — War  with  Great  Britain — Views  of  the  parties  respecting 
it — These  questions  only  incidentally  connected  with  the  parties ; 
IV.  They  differed  in  regard  to  the  army  and  navy — The  Democrats 
oppose  the  organization  of  an  army — They  oppose  the  navy — Rea 
sons  of  their  opposition— These  measures  advocated  by  the  Fede 
ralists  ;  V.  They  differed  in  regard  to  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws 
— Object  of  those  laws — Opposed  by  the  Democrats — Change  of 
parties — Review  of  their  differences — The  two  classes  of  measures 
on  which  they  differed :  namely,  the  foreign  relations  and  the  do 
mestic  policy — The  measures  relating  to  domestic  policy  came  into 
direct  collision  with  one  or  other  of  the  main  ideas  of  the  two  parties 
—General  conclusions  respecting  the  two  parties:  (1.)  They  ex 
changed  creeds  when  they  exchanged  positions  ;  (2.)  They  were 
pretty  equally  divided  in  regard  to  men  and  influence  ;  (3.)  They  in 
general  acted  from  patriotic  motives  ;  (4.)  They  were  not  responsible 
for  the  abuse  of  their  political  creeds  by  others ;  (5.)  These  party 
discussions  serve  certain  good  purposes.  These  parties  ceased  with 
the  close  of  the  war  of  1812 .  249 


LECTURE  IX. 
THE  WAR  OF  1812. 

Governments  have  external  as  well  as  internal  duties  to  perform — 
Evidences  of  the  ability  of  our  republic  to  manage  its  external 
affairs — This  ability  manifested  in  the  causes,  events,  and  circum 
stances  of  the  war  of  1812 — I.  Causes  of  the  war:  (1)  Aggressions 
of  Great  Britain  upon  the  commerce  of  the  United  States — Orders 
in  council — Berlin  and  Milan  decrees — Paper  blockades — Injuries 
to  American  commerce — Defensive  measures — Embargo — Its  ope 
ration — Non-Intercourse — Continental  system  of  Napoleon — Mari 
time  system  of  England — Effect  of  these  aggressions  upon  the 
American  people ;  (2)  Right  of  search,  and  impressment— This 
right  not  claimed  against  national  armed  vessels — Admission  of  the 
right  to  search  neutral  vessels  for  contraband  goods,  for  enemy's 
property,  and  for  men  in  the  land  and  naval  service — The  right  to 
search  for  sailors  and  seamen  denied  by  the  United  States — Evils 
of  the  system  as  practised  by  Great  Britain ;  (3)  Instigation  of  the 
Northwest  Indians  against  the  United  States — Attempts  to  disturb 
the  Union— These  evils  result  in  the  war  of  1812—11.  General  course 
of  events  of  the  war :  (1)  The  military  part — Conducted  all  round 


X  CONTENTS. 

the  country — Results  on  the  northwest — On  the  north — Along  the 
Atlantic  coast — On  the  southwest ;  (2)  The  naval  part — Unexpected 
success  of  the  navy — Moral  power  of  this  success — Preponderance 
of  naval  triumphs  in  favour  of  the  United  States — III.  Sources  of 
the  naval  triumphs  of  the  Americans — IV.  The  army  less  successful 
than  the  navy — Causes  of  its  frequent  failures — V.  Adverse  circum 
stances  in  which  the  war  was  conducted — Some  were  accidental, 
others  belong  to  the  form  of  our  government — Of  the  accidental 
embarrassments  the  greatest  was  the  condition  of  the  navy — Of  the 
embarrassments,  springing  from  our  form  of  government,  the  greatest 
was  the  party  opposition — Cause  of  this  opposition — Addresses — 
Conventions — Legislative  resolutions — Hartford  Convention — Ef 
fects  of  the  opposition — VI.  Changes  in  Europe  prepare  the  way  for 
peace — Treaty  of  Ghent — Results — Our  republican  system  can 
bring  the  force  of  the  nation  to  the  defence  of  its  rights  ....  303 

LECTURE  X. 

GEOGRAPHICAL  EXTENSION  —  CONSERVATIVE  IN 
FLUENCES. 

Many  peculiarities  of  the  United  States  attributable  to  the  condition 
of  the  natives  and  the  great  extent  of  country  in  North  America — 
Geographical  extension  :  I.  Limits  of  the  United  States  at  the  close 
of  the  Revolution — Settlement  of  the  region  between  the  Allegha- 
nies  and  the  Mississippi — The  fertility  of  the  country  and  the  rapid 
increase  of  its  population  —  The  new  states  formed  between  the 
Alleghany  Mountains  and  Mississippi  river;  II.  The  Louisiana 
purchase — Its  extent — Circumstances  which  gave  it  to  the  United 
States — The  advantages  of  this  acquisition;  III.  The  acquisition 
of  Florida — Its  addition  furnishes  the  United  States  a  natural  boun 
dary  on  the  south;  IV.  The  annexation  of  Texas — Statement  of 
the  arguments  upon  the  question  of  its  admission — Benefits  derived 
from  these  several  acquisitions  of  territory ;  V.  Extension  of  the 
United  States  to  the  Pacific — Oregon  and  its  limits — Its  benefit  to 
the  United  States  and  to  the  progress  of  civilization — Summary  of 
the  geographical  additions  to  the  Union. 

Conservative  influences — They  are  moral,  political,  and  mechanical : 
I.  The  moral  influences  (1),  Education  (2),  Religion  (3),  Uniformity 
of  laws,  languages,  and  habits ;  II.  The  political  influences  (1),  The 
federative  system  (2),  The  ballot-box ;  III.  The  material  influences 
(1),  The  power  of  steam  (2),  The  public  press  (3),  Improvements  in 
the  arts — Effect  of  these  combined  influences  upon  the  permanence 
of  our  republican  system—Conclusion 357 


INTRODUCTORY    NOTE. 

THE  following  Lectures  are  designed,  as  the 
title  imports,  to  give  a  view  of  the  Origin  and 
Progress  of  the  United  States.  The  first  part 
of  this  title  has  reference  to  the  events  con 
nected  with  North  America  previously  to  the 
Revolution ;  the  second  part  comprises  the  gen 
eral  course  of  affairs  since  that  epoch.  The 
originating  period  contains  a  variety  of  facts, 
apparently  isolated,  accidental,  and  disconnected 
with  any  ultimate  results.  An  attempt  is  here 
made  to  exhibit  the  mode  in  which  these  facts 
contributed  to  the  production,  union,  and  pecu 
liarities  of  our  republic.  The  second  period — 
the  period  of  Progress,  which  I  have  marked 
as  extending  from  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu 
tion  in  A.  D.  1789,  to  the  present  time,  also  em 
braces  a  large  variety  of  affairs,  which  combine 
to  give  an  exhibition  of  the  advancement  of  the 


Xll  INTRODUCTORY   NOTE. 

United  States  in  power,  in  political  skill,  in 
population,  and  in  geographical  extension. 
The  events  belonging  to  this  period  make 
known  the  process  by  which  our  institutions 
have  acquired  their  present  degree  of  stability. 
In  treating  of  the  affairs  of  this  period  it  is  per 
haps  impossible  to  avoid  the  exceptions  that 
may  be  taken  by  men  of  different  political 
views.  I  have  only  to  say  that  the  theories 
and  results  here  stated  are  stated  in  all  candour, 
and  seemed  to  be  warranted  by  the  facts  upon 
which  they  rest. 

With  these  remarks  the  present  volume  is 
submitted  to  the  reader. 

Easton,  Pa.,  July  4^,  184(3. 


ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS 


OF 


THE  UNITED 


PRELIMINARY  LECTURE. 

Elements  of  human  history — The  historic  record  —  Civilization  and 
the  Divine  Plan — The  extent  of  history — The  kind  of  facts  it  makes 
known — Civilization — What  it  is,  and  how  made  known  in  history — 
Theories  concerning  progressive  Civilization :  I.  The  Egyptian 
Civilization ;  II.  The  Grecian ;  III.  The  Chinese ;  IV.  The  Hin 
doo;  V.  The  Mexican  or  Aztec;  VI.  The  Saracenic;  VII.  The 
Germanic,  or  modern  European  Civilization — Connexion  of  these 
civilizations  with  each  other — Influence  of  religion  and  commerce 
on  Civilization— Connexion  of  our  Republic  with  the  European 
Civilization— Peculiarities  of  this  Civilization  in  our  Republic  :  De 
mocracy  and  free  religion— The  Divine  Plan— Its  admission  gives 
unity  to  events  in  history — The  principle  of  design  illustrated  — 
Benefits  of  a  historic  knowledge  of  institutions. 

I  PROPOSE  to  deliver  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  his 
tory  of  the  United  States.  Instead,  however,  of  pro 
ceeding  immediately  to  the  events  connected  with  the 
origin  and  progress  of  our  republic,  I  will,  in  this  pre 
liminary  lecture,  direct  your  attention  to  some  general 
views  of  history.  My  design  in  doing  this  is  to  give 
you  first  a  general  notion  of  the  connexion  of  the  United 
States  with  other  nations,  and  to  represent,  if  possible,  in 


14  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

luminous,  prominent  relief,  the  part  our  country  is  act 
ing  in  the  career  of  the  human  race. 

"All  the  world's  a  stage, 
And  all  the  men  and  women  merely  players." 

What  part  in  this  great  drama  do  the  "  men  and  wo 
men"  of  our  republic  act  ?  We  will  be  able  to  answer 
this  question  whe.n  we  shall  have  learned  what  parts  of 
the  play  havej  already  been  performed  by  other  nations ; 
and  thfs  knowledge  we  obtain  from  history. 
-  :'  Histovv  dfcais  in  facts.  It  is  a  record  of  what  has 
been  done  among  the  human  race.  But  the  simple  re 
cord  is  not  the  whole  of  history.  In  addition  to  the  re 
corded  facts,  there  are  others  whose  existence  is  made 
known  rather  inferentially  than  expressly.  The  first  of 
these  inferential  facts  is  the  design  or  plan  of  the  Divine 
Governor  of  the  world  in  reference  to  the  human  race. 
This  fact  lies  back  of  those  that  appear  upon  the  historic 
record.  The  second  of  these  inferential  facts  is  the 
civilization  of  the  human  race.  This  fact  runs  parallel 
with  those  that  appear  upon  the  record.  These  two 
facts  come  to  our  knowledge  inferentially,  and  in  that 
respect  differ  from  the  facts  usually  set  forth  in  the  nar 
rations  of  history:  they  are,  nevertheless,  facts.  The 
mode  in  which  we  obtain  a  knowledge  of  them  does 
not  affect  their  existence  or  their  nature.  That  the  pre 
sent  European  race  is  generally  civilized,  is  as  much  a 
fact  as  that  our  republic  exists.  That  the  Ruler  of  the 
world  has  a  design  or  plan  in  reference  to  the  human 
race,  is  as  much  a  fact  as  that  the  plant  grows  or  the 
flower  fades.  We  may  therefore  say,  that  the  main  ele 
ments  of  human  history  are  the  usually  narrated  facts — 
the  civilization  of  mankind — and  the  plan  of  the  Divine 
Governor  of  the  world  in  regard  to  the  human  race. 


THE    HISTORIC    RECORD.  15 

These  three  elements  are  connected  together  as  design, 
means,  and  end.  The  existence  of  a  moral  Governor 
of  the  world  involves  the  idea  of  a  Ruler  who  plans  or 
designs  ends  beneficial  to  the  human  race :  civilization 
is  one  of  these  ends,  and  the  facts  narrated  in  history 
are  actions  or  agencies  by  which  this  end  is  attained. 

To  show  the  legitimacy  of  the  statement  just  made  ; 
to  give  you  a  definite  idea  of  the  elements  of  human 
history ;  and  to  show  you  how  they  are  connected  to 
gether,  let  us  pass  in  review  before  you 

First,  THE  HISTORIC  RECORD; 

Second,  CIVILIZATION  ; 

Third,  THE  DIVINE  DESIGN. 

This  review  will  give  you  a  general  notion  of  the 
connexion  of  the  United  States  with  other  nations,  both 
with  those  whose  race  is  run  and  with  those  who  now 
figure  on  the  stage  of  action.  We  need  not  torture  our 
selves  to  keep  these  three  divisions  entirely  separate. 
For  since  when  taken  together  they  form  one  system, 
and  are  intimately  connected  together  as  design,  means, 
and  end,  the  consideration  of  one  of  them  necessarily 
involves  some  portions  of  the  others.  But  preserving 
between  them  such  a  separation  as  their  natural  unity 
admits,  we  are  to  consider,  in  the  first  place, 

THE   HISTORIC   RECORD. 

You  have  a  general  idea  of  what  is  understood  by 
history.  You  know  that  it  is  a  narration  of  facts,  of 
events,  of  matters  that  concern  masses  of  men.  Were 
we  to  divide  it  into  ancient  and  modern,  or  into  civil, 
political,  and  ecclesiastical,  we  would  be  making  merely 
artificial  divisions.  The  plan  of  Providence  in  reference 
to  the  human  race,  is  one  system,  one  plan  ;  and  not 
many.  The  facts  or  events  which  have  come  to  pass  in 


16  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

the  accomplishment  of  this  plan,  and  many  of  which  are 
noted  on  the  record  of  history,  are  consequently  only  one 
system  of  facts.  Some  of  these  facts  occurred  "  long 
time  ago."  Some  of  them  occurred  in  the  church,  and 
some  of  them  out  of  the  church ;  but  they  are  all  parts 
of  one  system,  and  have  the  unity  which  belongs  to  dif 
ferent  means,  all  co-operating  to  one  result. 

Were  we  to  divide  history  into  ancient  and  modern, 
we  might  be  perplexed  to  find  the  boundary  where  the 
ancient  ceases,  and  the  modern  commences.  Were  we 
to  classify  it  into  civil,  political,  and  ecclesiastical,  we 
would  be  dividing  in  theory  what  has  been  united  in 
fact.  For  the  stream  of  time  flows  equably  and  un 
ceasingly  onward.  Nations  are  young,  grow  old,  and 
pass  away ;  all  are,  in  turn,  ancient  and  modern.  Their 
birth,  their  life,  and  their  death,  are  told  to  us  in  the 
brief  narrations  of  history ;  but  of  some  of  them  we 
have  only  a  few  meager  sketches ;  mere  scratchings  of 
enigmatical  figures  are  in  many  cases  all  that  is  left  to 
us  of  great  nations.  But  the  representations  of  history, 
whether  obscure  or  bright,  wrhether  meager  or  full,  ex 
hibit  to  us  political  institutions,  religious  ceremonies, 
and  social  life.  These  institutions,  ceremonies,  and 
life,  have  generally  been  combined  into  one  system,  and 
have  existed  not  separately,  but  unitedly.  Facts  affect 
ing  them  make  up  the  body  of  the  historic  record. 

As  an  illustration  of  this,  cast  your  eye  over  the  his 
tory  of  Europe  during  the  last  thirteen  centuries,  and 
what  facts  do  you  see  revealed  ?  You  see  nations  strug 
gling  into  being.  You  see  men  contending  for  civil 
rights.  You  see  kings  and  princes  warring  abroad  and 
at  home  to  maintain  their  political  existence,  or  increase 
their  political  power.  You  see  also  the  influence  of  the 
religious  element.  Everywhere  your  eye  falls  upon 


THE    HISTORIC    RECORD.  17 

facts  connected  with  social  life,  political  rights,  and  ec 
clesiastical  matters.  If  you  look  beyond  the  present 
European  nations,  the  same  three  elements  still  furnish 
the  facts  of  history.  In  old  Persia,  in  Egypt,  in  Greece, 
in  Judea,  in  China,  in  India,  and  wherever  you  turn,  you 
witness  a  series  of  facts  connected  with  religion,  with 
national  independence,  and  with  civil  rights.  You 
everywhere  see  men  diligent  in  their  own  individual 
affairs,  or  in  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  or  in  matters  of 
religion.  In  a  word,  religion,  politics,  and  private  pro 
perty,  occupy  the  attention  of  mankind.  The  state  in 
its  internal  organization  or  in  its  external  relations,  is 
what  we  mean  by  politics. 

But  over  what  extent  in  time  do  the  representa 
tions  of  history  reach,  and  how  much  of  the  destiny 
of  our  race  do  they  exhibit  ?  Have  men  always  been 
attending  to  religion,  politics,  and  property,  and 
will  they  continue  to  attend  to  them  through  all  gen 
erations  to  come  ?  History  is  essentially  made  up  of 
things  that  are  past ;  but  the  destiny  of  mankind  reaches 
from  the  past  into  the  future.  The  career  of  the  human 
race  opens  in  Paradise,  and  the  vicissitudes  of  its  march 
to  the  present  time  are,  as  we  have  said,  very  meagerly 
sketched  in  history.  But  where  history  drops  the  pen, 
prophecy  takes  up  the  story;  and  by  anticipating  the 
course  of  events,  by  noting  dowrn  results  rather  than 
processes,  reveals  the  progress  of  man  towards  the 
consummation  of  his  being.  If  we  look  to  the  past, 
we  learn  a  few  of  the  vicissitudes  of  the  race. 
Scraps  of  narratives,  relics,  monuments,  mummies,  and 
the  cast-off  garments  of  dead  nations,  inform  us  of  the 
general  movements  of  mankind  in  the  ages  that  are 
finished.  If  we  turn  to  the  future,  the  coming  fortunes 
of  the  race  are  shadowed  forth  in  prophecy.  If  we 


18  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

try  to  follow  these  fortunes  onward  in  time,  trumpets  of 
joy  and  trumpets  of  sorrow  sound  in  our  ears,  great 
changes  are  intimated,  times  of  adversity  come  on, 
brighter  days  arrive,  and  the  prophetic  curtain  drops  on 
the  human  race  in  the  full  blaze  of  millenial  glory. 
Between  the  original  imparadised  state  of  man  in  Eden, 
and  his  reimparadised  state  in  the  Messianic  kingdom, 
where  prophecy  itself  ceases  to  follow  his  fortunes,  a 
long,  long  tract  of  time  intervenes. 

In  this  interval  the  past  and  the  future  meet,  and 
history,  joining  hands  with  prophecy,  follows  our  race 
in  its  travels  from  the  paradise  of  the  creation  to  the 
paradise  of  the  millenium.  The  general  fortunes  of  man 
between  these  two  states  are  thus  evolved  before  us,  but 
shadows,  clouds,  and  darkness,  often  rest  upon  them, 
If  prophecy  be  obscure,  history  is  meager  ;  but  notwith 
standing  their  dimness  when  united,  they  form  an  out-: 
line — a  general  landscape  of  human  things,  which  has 
many  points  of  intense  interest.  This  landscape — this 
picture  of  the  race  in  all  its  fortunes,  past  and  to 
come,  is  one  single  piece — one  simple  grand  tableau. 
It  contains,  however,  so  many  obscure  points,  and  such 
a  variety  of  particulars,  and  is  spread  over  such  a  vast 
space,  that  our  vision  is  not  competent  to  take  in  at  a 
single  view  its  details  and  grand  figures. 

This  incompetency  or  inability  compels  us  to  restrict 
our  attention  to  some  isolated  portion  of  the  great  pic 
ture.  Accordingly, .  one  writer  occupies  himself  upon 
prophecy;  another,  upon  history;  and  these  divisions 
are  again  subdivided.  A  Gibbon  writes  the  history  of 
declining  Rome ;  a  Hume  romances  about  the  history  of 
England ;  the  pen  of  a  Robertson  adorns  the  times  of 
Charles  V.,  while  a  Vitringa  draws  from  Divine  revela 
tion  details  of  future  events.  The  great  and  comprehen- 


THE    HISTORIC    RECORD.  19 

sive  landscape  of  human  fortunes  is  thus  cut  and  carved, 
and  \ve  have  an  infinitude  of  partial  pictures,  varying  in 
all  degrees  of  extension,  from  the  history  of  complicated 
national  combinations  down  to  individual  biography. 
The  history  of  the  present  European  nations  is  one  of 
these  partial  pictures,  the  history  of  Saracenic  power  is 
another,  the  history  of  Grecian  power  is  another,  the  his 
tory  of  Roman  power  is  another,  and  the  history  of  our 
own  republic  is  another.  These  pictures  may  be  compre 
hensive  and  grand  in  themselves,  but  in  reference  to  the 
\vhole  human  race  they  are  partial  —  mere  fragmentary 
things — parts  of  that  great  picture  of  human  fortunes  which 
is  drawn  by  the  united  pencils  of  history  and  prophecy. 
From  this  rapid  survey  you  perceive  the  extent  of 
time  over  which  history  reaches,  and  the  position  it  occu 
pies  in  a  general  representation  of  human  things.  Though 
of  itself  incomplete,  yet,  when  joined  to  prophecy,  the 
two  united  fill  out  one  picture.  Each  reaches  away  from 
the  luminous  present,  the  one  into  the  misty  future,  and 
the  other  into  the  obscure  past.  But  I  do  not  design  to 
dwell  upon  these  general  viewrs.  They  have  been  pre 
sented  here  for  the  purpose  of  giving  an  idea  of  the  posi 
tion  occupied  by  our  own  country  in  the  general  course 
of  human  affairs.  For,  by  drawing  our  attention  away 
from  the  present,  and  looking  to  the  whole  career  of 
mankind,  past  and  future,  we  can  form  a  more  proper 
idea  of  the  limits  and  extent  of  our  field  of  labour,  when 
we  undertake  to  examine  the  origin,  organization,  and 
progress  of  the  United  States.  The  history  of  any  single 
nation  is  merely  a  fragment  of  a  more  extensive  picture. 
But  in  the  vision  of  the  ancient  monarch,  the  little  stone 
became  a  great  mountain,  and  filled  all  the  earth  ;  and 
in  our  vision  the  principles  evolved  in  the  origin  and 
formation  of  our  republic,  give  promise  of  extensive  influ- 


20  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

ence  upon  the  fortunes  of  our  race.  We  are  therefore 
prepared  to  affix  a  proper  value  upon  the  events  of  our 
own  history,  by  viewing  them  in  connexion  with  the 
general  current  of  human  things.  Standing  on  an  emi 
nence  from  wrhich  the  fortunes  of  our  race  may  be  sur 
veyed,  we  would  not  see  that  the  destinies  of  the  world 
were  immediately  changed  when  John  Hancock  wrote 
his  name  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  but  we 
would  see  that  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  our  repub 
lic  were  destined  to  exercise  an  extensive  influence  upon 
mankind  ;  an  influence  vastly  greater  than  was  indicated 
by  the  humble  labours  of  the  men  who  originated  our 
government. 

Having  taken  this  general  view  of  history,  and  ex 
amined  the  kind  of  facts  it  reveals,  and  the  extent  of 
time  over  which  it  reaches,  we  come  to  the  next  matter 
which  we  proposed  to  examine  ;  namely, 

CIVILIZATION. 

History  announces  the  facts  that  have  occurred  in 
accomplishing  the  destiny  and  discipline  of  the  human 
race.  Parallel  with  these  facts  is  the  inferential  fact  of 
civilization.  We  may  properly  name  it  an  inferential 
fact,  because  it  discovers  itself  by  way  of  inference  or 
argument,  rather  than  by  express  assertion.  For  exam 
ple,  when  the  ancient  Tyrians  are  described  as  revelling 
in  wealth,  and  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  the  in 
ferential  fact  is  that  they  had  a  regular  government — that 
they  were  acquainted  with  the  arts — that  they  had  laws 
for  restraining  crimes  against  person  and  property — in  a 
word,  that  they  were  civilized.  But  how  much  of  the 
internal  life  of  the  Tyrians  is  set  forth  in  the  express  facts 
recorded  in  history  ?  Their  individual  cultivation,  their 
social  enjoyments,  their  domestic  customs,  their  political 


CIVILIZATION.  21 

system,  their  political  parties,  their  conviviality,  their 
commercial  regulations,  their  whole  internal  life,  all  these 
are  matters  of  speculation.  History  is  silent  upon  them ; 
yet  these  matters  enter  largely  into  the  civilization  of  a 
people. 

You  may  perhaps  ask,  what  is  civilization  ?  what  fact 
is  expressed  by  the  term  ?  I  answrerr  that  by  civilization 
is  understood  the  progress,  the  improvement  of  man,  in 
dividually,  socially,  and  politically.  But,  without  labour 
ing  at  a  definition,  let  us,  for  illustration,  take  the  Esqui 
maux  Indian,  and  consider  in  what  respects  he  is  affected 
by  a  process  of  civilization.  First,  wrhat  is  he  as  an 
individual  ?  He  is  a  grovelling  savage,  clothed  in  skins 
if  clothed  at  all,  living  in  filth,  a  barren  intellect,  a  man 
in  form,  an  ourang-outang  in  mind  and  action. 

Secondly,  what  is  he  socially  ?  What  is  his  condition 
as  a  member  of  society?  He  is  a  stranger  to  the  enjoy 
ments,  to  the  ornaments,  and  elegancies  of  social  life. 
Painting,  music,  poetry,  sculpture,  agriculture,  com 
merce,  all  are  alike  unknown  to  him.  If  he  does  occa 
sionally  make  a  mud  figure  or  scream  a  wild  song,  he 
is  not  a  proficient  in  sculpture,  music,  or  other  of  the 
arts  of  cultivated  life.  If  he  have  a  squaw,  she  is  a 
slave  and  not  a  companion. 

Thirdly,  wrhat  is  he  politically  7  He  has  no  political 
existence,  lives  under  no  organized  government,  has 
neither  king,  president,  nor  representative.  His  whole 
being,  in  all  its  relationships,  is  summed  up  when  you 
say  that  he  is  a  big-headed,  short-bodied,  oil-drinking, 
pagan  Indian. 

Suppose  now  this  Esquimaux  be  changed  into  a  pro 
perly  educated  Pennsylvanian ;  wherein  does  he  differ 
from  his  former  self?  He  is  changed,  individually,  so 
cially,  and  politically. 


22  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Individually,  he  is  no  longer  a  mere  ourang-outang. 
He  has  now  a  cultivated  mind,  looks  out  upon  a  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth,  reads  the  handwriting  of  his 
Creator  in  the  stars,  in  the  plants,  in  the  flowers,  on  the 
streams,  and  in  his  Bible. 

Socially,  he  enjoys  the  comforts  of  life,  exchanges  his 
cavern  for  a  comfortable  dwelling,  has  a  bed  to  sleep  on, 
a  table  to  eat  from,  a  wife  for  a  companion,  and  neigh 
bours  to  visit. 

Politically,  he  is  a  member  of  a  nation,  lives  in  secu 
rity,  and  exerts  through  his  government  an  influence  on 
distant  quarters  of  the  world.  Commerce  lays  the  trea 
sures  of  the  ocean  at  his  feet,  agriculture  pours  its  fruits 
into  his  lap,  science  causes  the  elements  of  nature  to  mi 
nister  to  his  wants,  and  the  arts  surround  him  with  arti 
cles  for  use  and  ornament.  This  progress,  this  advance 
ment,  or  rather  this  advanced  condition  of  the  Esquimaux, 
we  call  civilization ;  and  these  changes  constitute  the 
civilizing  process. 

Different  theories  have  been  adopted  respecting  the 
origin  of  this  process,  and  different  degrees  of  univer 
sality  and  continuity  have  been  ascribed  to  it.  One 
theory  starts  with  the  human  race  as  a  mere  horde  of 
outlaws,  roaming  through  the  antediluvian  world  like  a 
most  wicked  gang  of  sinners,  and  living,  merely  great 
muscular  Cainite  Indians.  From  this  point  of  depression 
the  race  gradually  rises,  and  marching  ever  onward, 
passes  through  the  several  grades  of  civilization.  One 
series  of  nations  has  commenced  the  civilizing  process 
where  its  predecessors  ceased;  and  thus,  through  the 
Egyptians,  Greeks,  Romans,  Saracens,  and  Germans, 
there  has  been  a  gradual,  unbroken  advancement.  This 
advancement  will  continue  indefinitely,  till  in  time  the 


CIVILIZATION.  23 

race  will  attain  the  perfection  of  its  nature,  and  evil 
cease  to  molest  the  world. 

This  theory  was  promulgated  at  the  opening  of  the 
French  or  great  European  revolution  in  the  closing 
years  of  the  last  century,  and  has  been  defended  on  two 
grounds  diametrically  opposite.  The  originators  of  the 
theory,  Condorcet,  Paine,  and  Godwin,  advocated  the 
continued  and  indefinite  progression  of  the  race  in  civi 
lization,  but  represented  that  progression  as  resulting 
from  political  institutions,  from  educated  intellect,  from 
a  rejection  of  the  restraints  of  religion,  marriage,  and 
similar  opposing  elements.  After  these  wild,  fanatical 
disorganizes  had  promulgated  their  theory,  it  was 
adopted  by  many  Christian  theologians,  who  likewise 
saw  in  the  history  of  the  past,  and  in  the  landscape  of 
the  future,  a  continued  progression  of  the  human  race. 
But,  unlike  its  infidel  originators,  the  Christian  advocates 
of  the  theory  saw,  in  the  continued  advancement  of  the 
race  in  the  ages  that  are  past,  the  accomplishment  of  a 
Divine  plan  in  the  government  of  the  world.  Casting 
their  eyes  towards  the  future,  they  also  saw  the  same 
visions  which  appeared  to  Condorcet  and  Paine  ;  but  in 
opposition  to  those  unbelievers,  they  represented  man's 
progression  on  to  perfection,  as  a  result  that  would  be 
derived  from  a  wider  diffusion  of  Christianity,  and  from 
the  operation  of  its  regenerating  and  life-infusing  power. 
The  infidel  and  Christian  advocates  of  this  theory  concur 
in  the  representation  that  the  race  has  moved  gradually 
and  continually  onward  in  the  times  that  are  past,  and 
that  it  will  go  on  improving  in  the  times  that  are  to  come, 
till  it  finally  arrives  at  the  perfection  of  its  nature.  They 
differ,  however,  in  regard  to  the  influences  which 
cause  this  indefinite  improvement.  They  agree  about 


24  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED  STATES. 

the  fact,  but  not  about  the  means  which  produce  the 
fact. 

Antagonistic  to  this  theory  of  progression  is  another 
that  represents  the  human  race  either  as  stationary,  or 
at  most  moving  in  circles  of  civilization.  The  defenders 
of  this  theory  find  human  nature  the  same  in  all  ages 
of  the  world,  from  the  fall  of  Adam  to  the  present  hour. 
According  to  them,  there  exists  in  the  very  moral  and 
physical  structure  of  man  elements  hostile  to  continued 
improvement,  and  they  point  to  the  history  of  the  world 
to  prove  that  there  has  been  no  transmission  of  civili 
zation  from  one  circle  of  nations  to  another.  Ac 
cording  to  them,  each  nation,  or  circle  of  nations,  grew 
up,  and  became  civilized  with  its  own  peculiar  civiliza 
tion,  and  when  its  destiny  was  accomplished  it  passed 
away,  in  most  cases  merely 

"  Leaving  a  name  at  which  the  world  grew  pale, 
To  point  a  moral,  or  adorn  a  tale." 

According  to  this  theory,  there  have  been  as  many 
civilizations  as  there  have  been  circles  of  nations ;  but 
the  limits  and  duration  of  national  existence  have  in 
general  been  the  limits  and  duration  of  each  peculiar  ci 
vilization.  These  theorists  tell  us  that  the  civilization 
of  a  people  springs  from  an  internal  element  of  life,  an 
element  that  has  its  being  in  human  nature,  and  is  co 
extensive  with  the  human  family ;  an  element  that  is 
always  ready  to  develope  itself,  and  wrhich,  when  per 
mitted  to  act,  sets  a  nation,  or  circle  of  nations,  in  motion, 
and  moves  them,  gradually  up  the  hill  of  civilization. 
But  when  this  cultivation  has  been  carried  to  a  certain 
point,  adverse  influences  come  to  act  upon  it ;  the  people 
among  whom  it  has  appeared  lose  their  national  exist 
ence,  or  become  effeminate,  or  torn  with  civil  commo- 


CIVILIZATION.  25 

lions ;  the  light  of  science  burns  out,  the  arts  languish, 
die  and  are  buried,  and  the  world  begins  anew  the  work 
of  improvement. 

If  this  theory  be  adopted,  then  one  of  the  leading  ob 
jects  of  historical  inquiry  would  be  to  ascertain  the  pe 
culiar  form  of  civilization  in  different  nations,  and  recount 
the  influences  which  set  the  civilizing  element  to  work. 
But  the  question  recurs,  which  of  these  antagonistic 
theories  is  admissible — which  of  them  is  sustained  by  the 
actual  facts  which  have  occurred.  Has  the  whole 
world  of  mankind  been  steadily  progressing  in  the  work 
of  improvement,  from  the  time  when  the  Most  High  di 
vided  the  nations,  to  the  present  hour  ?  or  has  the  human 
family  been  stationary,  or  merely  making  only  here  and 
there  a  flying  visit  to  the  Eden  of  civilization,  and  a 
speedy  retreat  to  the  backwoods  of  wild  nature  ?  Which 
theory  harmonizes  the  facts,  the  actual  events  that  have 
occurred  in  the  world  ?  or  is  there  a  middle  ground, 
where  the  stationary,  log-like  theory  of  humanity  meets 
the  semi-infidel,  semi-christian  theory  of  progression? 
Let  us  see  what  the  actual  movements  of  mankind  teach 
upon  this  subject. 

Civilization,  as  we  have  said,  is  a  fact,  and  a  fact 
of  whose  existence  at  different  points  in  time  we  are  made 
acquainted  by  the  narrations  of  history.  What  then  do 
the  facts  set  forth  in  the  history  of  the  world  enable  us 
to  infer  concerning  the  course  of  civilization  ?  Has  it 
been  progressive,  or  has  it  moved  in  cycles  ?  Or  if  it 
has  moved  in  neither  of  these  ways,  how  has  it  moved  ? 
That  we  may  answer  these  questions,  let  us  take  a 
rapid  survey  of  the  most  remarkable  developements  of 
civilization  that  have  been  made  in  the  world.  Such  a 
survey  will  also  enable  us  to  define  the  position  of  the 
United  States  among  the  nations,  in  regard  to  advance- 
c 


26  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

ment,  and  to  exhibit  the  origin  and  peculiar  elements  of 
our  own  civilization. 

I.  The  first  form  of  civilization  appeared  in  the  north 
east  of  Africa,  and  spread  into  the  adjacent  regions. 
The  Ethiopian  was  the  first  branch  of  the  human  race 
that  obtained  any  high  degree  of  cultivation.  Descend 
ing  from  the  mountains  of  Nubia  and  Abyssinia,  this  ci 
vilization  reached  a  high  perfection  in  the  valley  of 
Egypt.  From  Egypt  it  spread  into  Arabia,  Phrenicia, 
Nineveh,  Chaldea,  and  covered  the  whole  southwest  of 
Asia.  It  also  ran  along  the  northern  coast  of  Africa, 
and  founded  Carthage  and  the  Numidian  States.  But 
the  valley  of  Egypt  was  the  centre  of  this  civilization. 
There  the  human  intellect  received  its  first  extensive  de- 
velopement.  There  the  sciences  flourished,  the  pyramids 
rose,  architecture,  sculpture,  painting,  chemistry,  me 
chanics,  and  the  ornamental  and  useful  arts  were  culti 
vated.  The  Egyptians  became  men  in  everything  except 
in  religion.  They  sent  colonies  to  the  adjacent  coun 
tries  ;  and  Tyre,  Nineveh,  Babylon,  Persia,  and  all  the 
lands  watered  by  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  became  parts 
of  the  Egyptian  circle  of  nations.  We  may,  by  way  of 
distinction,  call  this  the  Egyptian  Civilization. 

Herodotus  and  the  Greek  writers  describe  the  civil 
ized  Egyptians  as  men  with  "  dark  skins  and  woolly 
heads."  From  the  crocodiles  and  bulrushes  of  the 
Nile,  these  gentlemen  of  colour  carried  the  arts  and 
improvements  of  life  to  their  colonies ;  and  if  we  pin 
our  faith  to  the  songs  of  Homer,  the  black  Memnon,  a 
prince  from  the  southern  side  of  the  Mediterranean,  was 
considered  a  beauty  and  "cut  quite  a  figure"  among 
the  well-booted  Greeks  at  the  siege  of  Troy.  All 
the  circle  of  nations  that  filled  Southwestern  Asia  and 
Northeastern  Africa  participated  in  this  civilization. 


EGYPTIAN    CIVILIZATION.  27 

How  far  it  extended  among  the  "  dark  skins  and  woolly 
heads"  in  the  interior  of  Africa,  we  know  not. 

What  became  of  this  civilization  ?  Did  the  human 
race  make  this  high  eminence  the  foundation  on  which 
to  erect  a  still  higher  tower,  whose  top  should  reach  on 
upward  to  the  heaven  of  perfection  ?  Not  at  all.  The 
Egyptian  civilization  came  to  an  end.  The  builders  be 
came  confused ;  and  if  you  permit  me  to  continue  the 
same  towering  figure,  I  may  add  that  they  were  scattered 
abroad  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth,  and  left  off  to 
build.  In  unfigurative  language,  the  nations  of  South 
eastern  Asia  and  Northeastern  Africa  gradually  became 
barbarians.  They  became,  not  civilly,  but  civilizedly 
dead.  Who  inherited  their  estate  ?  To  what  Texas  is 
their  civilization  gone  ?  Near  the  Nile  stand  the  pyra 
mids,  huge  masses  of  clay  and  stone.  Broken  columns, 
old  pieces  of  pottery,  sphinx  heads,  and  sherds  of  carved 
work  are  occasionally  dug  up,  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile 
and  Euphrates.  The  rest  is  gone.  Who  got  it? 

Such  was  the  career  of  civilization  in  the  Egyptian 
circle  of  nations,  among  whom 

"  On  leeks  and  onions  't  was  profane  to  dine, 
And  long-tailed  cats  took  rank  divine." 

II.  The  second  civilization  that  appeared  was  among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans.  This  was  the  civilization  of  the 
white  race.  It  is  usual  to  connect  the  arts,  sciences, 
and  whole  cultivation  of  the  Greeks,  individual,  social, 
and  political,  with  those  of  the  Egyptians.  Cadmus  car 
rying  the  alphabet  from  Phoenicia  (a  colony  of  Egypt) 
to  Greece,  is  the  usual  symbol  of  the  Egyptian  civiliza 
tion  migrating  to  the  Caucasian  or  White  race.  Ce- 
crops  too,  that  Daniel  Boone  of  Greece,  it  is  said,  came 
from  Egypt;  and  Pythagoras,  Herodotus,  and  other 


28  ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Greeks  travelled  in  the  land  of  the  pyramids,  and  conse 
quently  must  have  brought  home  with  them  all  that  was 
worth  learning  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  If  they  did 
not  do  so,  they  would  have  been  better  employed  at 
home  than  in  sauntering  through  Egypt,  and  gaping  at 
the  crocodiles,  frogs  and  onions.  In  a  word,  the  usual 
representation  is  that  the  civilization  of  the  wrhite  race 
came  by  way  of  derivation  from  Egypt. 

But  what  does  the  historic  record  intimate  upon  this 
point  ?  It  does  not  say  that  Africa  went  on  a  mission  of 
civilization  to  Europe.  If  we  believe  the  Greeks,  their 
own  civilization  was  spontaneous,  aboriginal,  quite  as 
autochthonic  as  they  believed  themselves  to  be.  It 
sprang  from  that  innate  element  of  developement  which 
is  implanted  in  human  nature,  and  did  not  come  by  way 
of  derivation  from  Egypt.  Cecrops,  that  grasshopper 
king,  was  an  autochthon,  an  aboriginal,  and  a  good 
woodsman  ;  and  Cadmus  knew  his  alphabet,  but  sprang 
from  among  the  grasshoppers  of  his  own  Greece.  Such 
is  the  result  of  Greek  teaching  upon  the  origin  of  their 
civilization. 

If  we  compare  the  Greek  with  the  Egyptian  civiliza 
tion,  we  are  almost  compelled  to  admit  the  aboriginal 
origin  of  the  former.  Individually r,  socially ',  and  politi 
cally^  the  Greek  cultivation  not  only  differed  from  the 
Egyptian,  but  had  little  in  common  with  it.  Individu 
ally,  the  Greeks  were  philosophic,  and  the  Egyptians  re 
ligious.  Politically,  the  Greeks  were  republicans,  and 
the  Egyptians  subjects  of  an  autocrat.  The  social  life 
of  each  was  moulded  by  their  political  system  and  indi 
vidual  form  of  cultivation.  Were  we  to  sum  up  the 
respective  characteristics  of  the  two  circles  of  nations, 
we  would  say  that  Grecian  architecture,  sculpture,  paint 
ing,  manners,  literature,  in  a  word,  the  Grecian  arts, 


GRECIAN    CIVILIZATION.  29 

sciences,  and  life,  differed  radically  from  those  of  Egypt. 
How  could  such  differences  in  all  that  relates  to  human 
cultivation  exist,  if  Grecian  civilization  owed  its  origin 
and  existence  to  the  Egyptians  ?  If  the  Greek  bore  any 
resemblance,  either  individually ,  socially,  or  politically, 
to  the  Egyptian,  we  might  be  persuaded  that  he  obtained 
his  whole  composition,  and  derived  his  entire  cultivation 
from  Egypt.  But  as  long  as  the  general  rule  of  nature 
exists,  that  like  produces  like,  we  must  prefer  the 
Hellenistic  and  aboriginal  origin  of  Grecian  civilization 
to  its  Egyptian  derivation. 

But,  dismissing  the  farther  discussion  of  this  point, 
we  perceive  that  in  the  matter  of  extension  the  Grecian, 
like  the  Egyptian  civilization,  was  proselyting  in  its  ca 
reer.  We  have  said  that  the  Egyptian  civilization  ex 
tended  itself  over  Northern  Africa  and  Southwestern 
Asia.  The  Grecian  civilization  wrent  on  a  similar  mis 
sion  of  proselytism.  After  cradling  itself  in  the  islands 
of  the  ^gean,  in  the  south  of  Italy,  on  the  shores  of 
Asia  Minor,  and  through  Macedonia,  it  went  forth  with 
Alexander  the  Great,  and  spread  itself  over  Asia.  In 
consequence  of  his  wild  career,  Grecian  cities  studded 
the  mountains  and  the  valleys  from  the  Indus  to  the 
Bosphorus,  and  all  the  Eastern  World  became  Greek. 
Even  Egypt  itself  was  recivilized  by  Grecian  science 
and  government ;  and  Syria,  Persia,  Asia  Minor,  and 
Mesopotamia,  were  added  to  the  Macedonian  Empire, 
and  tasted  of  Grecian  cultivation  as  well  as  of  Grecian 
tyranny.  Such  was  the  meteoric  rapidity  of  Grecian 
civilization  over  the  East.  But,  by  arid  by,  the  all-con 
quering  Roman  began  to  look  across  the  Adriatic,  and 
Greece  yielded  to  the  iron  power  of  the  West.  The 
great  Macedonian  Empire,  after  having  been  dismem 
bered  by  the  generals  of  Alexander,  fell  piecemeal  to 


30  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

the  earth ;  and  in  the  extension  of  military  conquest 
and  despotism,  the  Roman  legion  took  the  place  of  the 
Macedonian  phalanx.  But  the  proud  Greek,  with  his 
Plato  under  his  arm,  curled  his  lip  in  cold  disdain  at 
the  ignorance  of  his  Roman  conqueror ;  bowed  to  his 
master,  and  taught  him  philosophy  and  the  arts.  The 
Roman  Empire  was  enlightened  with  the  blaze  of 
Grecia's  captive  genius,  and  became  the  centre  and  cir 
cumference  of  the  civilized  world. 

But,  in  time,  adversity  began  to  attend  the  steps  of 
this  civilization.  The  Teutonic  tribes  came  down 
from  the  north,  and  Goths,  Vandals,  Franks,  and  other 
divisions  of  men  from  the  great  Germanic  family, 
trod  down  the  western  division  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
The  eastern  division  of  the  colossal  power,  from  its 
capital  at  Constantinople,  still  sent  its  lines  of  light  into 
the  wrorld.  But  the  Turk  reached  the  Bosphorus ;  his 
cannon  battered  down  the  city  of  Constantine ;  the 
Greek  fire  was  extinguished ;  Greek  philosophers  be 
came  Turkish  slaves ;  and  the  civilization  of  two  thou 
sand  years  ceased  to  exist. 

III.  A  third  form  of  civilization  appeared  in  the  remote 
East.  For  long  centuries,  individual,  social,  and  political 
improvement  had  been  going  forward  among  the  tribes 
who  had  their  habitations  on  the  vast  plains,  and  along 
the  magnificent  rivers  of  Eastern  Asia.  About  two  cen 
turies  and  a  half  before  the  Christian  era,  these  tribes 
were  gathered  into  one  consolidated  Chinese  empire,  by 
a  gentleman  who  rejoiced  in  the  tough  name  of  Chi- 
hoangti.  His  fame  looms  out  from  the  mists  of  anti 
quity,  and  a  few  scanty  records  tell,  with  Spartanic  bre 
vity,  such  facts  as  the  following : 

Chihoangti  built  the  great  wall  of  China. 

Chihoangti,  a  high-toned  federalist,  united   all  the 


CHINESE    CIVILIZATION.  31 

independent  governments  of  China  into  one  single  em 
pire. 

Chihoangti  burned  all  the  books  and  archives  of  his 
empire,  that  posterity  might  believe  him  the  first  of  his 
race,  the  father  of  literature,  and  the  founder  of  a  mighty 
state. 

Chihoangti  was  the  Justinian  of  his  people,  made 
good  laws  for  them,  hanged  robbers,  and  patronized  the 
fine  arts. 

All  this,  and  more,  did  Chihoan^i  do,  two  long  cen- 

7  7  O  '  O 

turies  before  the  Christian  era.  Great  is  the  renown  of 
Chihoangti,  the  book-burning,  wall-building  Chinese 
federalist. 

For  twelve  centuries  after  him  the  Chinese  people  and 
government  flourished  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  peculiar  ci 
vilization.  Sculpture,  painting,  printing,  and  almost  all 
the  useful  arts  flourished  among  them.  They  cultivated 
literature  and  science,  and  enjoyed  the  luxuries  and  ele 
gancies  and  ornaments  of  life.  Individually ',  socially,  and 
politically,  they  were  an  improved  people.  If  one  false 
religion  be  better  than  another,  they  had  the  purest  of 
all  pagan  religions.  They  cultivated  the  domestic  rela 
tions,  and,  by  means  of  printing,  diffused  books  on 
morals,  agriculture,  and  the  arts. 

This  Asiatic  civilization  was  not  very  proselyting  in 
its  tendencies.  It  was  bounded  on  the  north  and  north 
west  by  Chihoangti's  great  wall,  and  on  the  south  and 
east  by  the  ocean.  What  connexion  had  it  with  the 
Egyptian  or  Grecian  civilization  ?  How  is  it  to  be  de 
rived  from  them?  Did  Chihoangti  dig  Greek  roots  and 
read  Plato,  or  travel  along  the  Nile  ?  Or  did  this  Chi 
nese  civilization  spring  from  the  internal  element  of  im 
provement  that  is  ingrained  into  the  very  nature  of  man  ? 
Whatever  may  have  been  its  origin,  the  fact  itself  is  well 


32  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

established,  that  while  the  Germanic  barbarians  were 
trampling  upon  the  civilization  of  the  white  race  in  the 
West,  the  swarthy  sons  of  Shem  in  the  East  were  living 
"in  high  life"  and  enjoying  their  peculiar  civilization. 

IV.  The  fourth  form  of  civilization  had  its  locality  in 
the  peninsula  of  Hindostan.  The  lamp  of  history  casts  a 
dim  and  shadowy  light  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  Hin 
doos  :  a  term  which  for  brevity  wre  may  employ  to  desig 
nate  the  inhabitants  of  India  west  and  south  of  the  basin 
of  the  Ganges.  The  Greek  writers  who  accompanied 
the  expedition  of  Alexander,  describe  their  manners,  in 
stitutions,  and  life,  with  an  unsteady  pen.  From  the 
wild  visit  of  the  Grecian  conqueror  down  to  the  Moslem 
invasion  in  the  twelfth  century,  mists  and  darkness  rest 
upon  the  nations  that  were  grouped  within  the  geo 
graphical  limits  of  the  Indus,  the  Himmaleh  Mountains, 
and  the  Indian  Ocean.  The  native  records  of  events 
that  occurred  during  this  long  interval,  are  meager,  un 
satisfactory,  and  insufficient  to  give  any  definite  idea  of 
the  civilization  that  there  existed.  But  by  combining 
the  poetic  vagaries  of  the  native  writers  with  the  revela 
tions  of  the  Moslem  invaders  and  with  the  facts  made 
known  by  the  recent  visits  and  conquests  of  Europeans, 
we  are  able  to  draw  a  picture,  dimly  defined  indeed,  but 
still  a  picture  of  the  individual,  social,  and  political  con 
dition  of  the  Hindoos.  From  these  sources  we  arrive  at 
a  knowledge  of  the  fact,  that  a  cluster  of  civilized  nations, 
embracing  many  millions  of  inhabitants,  long  existed  in 
Hindostan.  No  overtowering  imperial  government 
united  this  family  of  nations.  They  were  separated,  like 
the  present  inhabitants  of  Europe,  whom  they  about 
equalled  in  number,  into  distinct  and  disconnected  king 
doms.  But  among  all  these  kindred  kingdoms,  though 
diversified  by  local  peculiarities,  a  similar  form  of  civil- 


HINDOO   CIVILIZATION.  33 

ization  prevailed.  In  government,  in  religion,  in  the 
arts,  in  the  sciences,  in  their  moral  precepts,  in  their 
laws,  they  were  a  tolerably  united  circle  of  nations. 
Cut  into  divisions  or  castes,  between  which  no  sympathy 
and  little  communication  existed,  this  circle  of  nations 
reached  a  high  grade  of  improvement.  In  the  arts  and 
sciences  they  were  masters,  in  laws  they  were  just,  in 
religion  they  were  devotees  of  the  most  ardent  kind  ;  and 
though  their  taste  differed  widely  from  that  of  Europeans, 
they  had  a  literature  that  intimates  a  high  degree  of  cul 
tivation.  Two  peculiarities  of  their  form  of  civilization 
deserve  to  be  noticed,  because  they  exercised  an  immense 
influence  upon  Hindoo  life. 

The  first  of  these  peculiarities  is  the  system  of  castes, 
the  second  is  the  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  souls. 
The  system  of  castes  is  ingrained  into  their  political  and 
religious  institutions,  and  is  an  essential  element  in  their 
practical  life.  The  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of 
souls  is  an  article  of  faith  which  leads  to  important  con 
sequences.  In  their  religious  belief,  transmigration  is 
an  evil  which  can  only  be  avoided  by  rising  in  holy  con 
templation  of  the  Divine  nature  to  a  purification  of  the 
soul.  Hence,  there  is  a  tendency  to  a  monastic  life, 
and  an  actual  devotion  which  is  more  earnest  than  in 
most  other  creeds.  Their  exertions  to  attain  by  pure 
contemplation  an  intimate  intercourse  with  the  Divine 
Being,  gives  their  faith  a  mystic  form.  If  purified  by 
such  a  communion,  the  soul  at  death  is  free  from  the 
condemnation  of  going  into  a  frog,  a  cow,  or  a  monkey, 
but  is  absorbed  into  the  Divine  essence,  and  participates 
in  the  felicity  of  Deity.  Hence  the  Hindoos  strive,  by 
meditation,  to  avoid  the  evil  of  transmigration. 

Such  is  the  practical  influence  of  the  system  of  castes 


3-1  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

and  of  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  upon  the  civilization 
of  the  Hindoo  circle  of  nations. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  this  circle  of  nations  had 
in  early  ages  a  very  intimate  connexion  with  the  nations 
who  enjoyed  the  Egyptian  civilization.  Theorists  have 
even  represented  India  as  the  original  home  of  the  arts 
and  sciences  which  blessed,  and  of  the  religion  which 
degraded  Egypt  and  its  associate  nations.  The  fact  that 
a  high  grade  of  civilization  existed  in  India  is  admitted. 
Its  origin  lies  hidden  in  the  remote  past.  All  that  we 
know  concerning  its  commencement  is,  that  when  the 
curtain  rises,  the  Hindoos  are  a  cultivated  people.  But 
no  man  can  positively  affirm  that  the  proselyting  spirit 
of  Hindoo  civilization  ever  carried  it  far  beyond  the  limits 
of  Hindostan.  A  few  straggling  rays  may  perhaps  have 
glimmered  from  it  into  Farther  India  ;  but  that  the  civili 
zation  of  the  Egyptian  nations  came  from  Hindostan, 
either  by  way  of  derivation  or  imitation,  is  an  article  of 
historic  faith  to  which  we  are  not  in  haste  to  subscribe. 

The  existence  of  the  Hindoo  civilization  at  an  early 
period  of  the  world's  history  is  admitted.  But  its  origin, 
its  migrations,  and  its  proselytism  are  unknown.  One 
fact  we  think  will  be  admitted,  and  it  is  a  fact  in  which, 
in  the  present  discussion,  we  are  much  interested.  The 
fact  to  which  I  refer  is,  that  no  other  nation  or  cluster 
of  nations,  has  made  the  Hindoo  civilization  the  starting 
point  for  a  higher,  more  refined,  and  more  glorious  cul 
tivation.  The  influence  of  Hindoo  civilization  upon 
their  Mahometan  conquerors,  does  not  constitute  an  ex 
ception  to  this  observation ;  for  the  Mahometan  invaders 
rose  no  higher  in  cultivated  life  than  the  Hindoo  nations 
which  they  conquered. 

From  all  the  information  given  by  history,  by  Hindoo 
poetry,  and  by  the  monuments  still  existing  in  the  country, 


MEXICAN    CIVILIZATION.  35 

the  inference  is  legitimate  that  civilization  was  farther 
advanced  in  Hindostan  at  the  invasion  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  than  it  is  at  the  present  day.  If  it  originated  not 
in  an  internal  element  of  human  improvement,  we  know 
not  where  to  seek  its  origin. 

V.  A  fifth  form  of  civilization  appeared  among  the 
aboriginal  Mexicans  of  North  America.  The  Mexican 
or  Aztec  people,  when  visited  by  the  Spaniards,  were 
in  possession  of  a  civilization  of  their  own.  Their  in 
dividual,  social,  and  political  condition,  gave  evidence 
of  a  high  degree  of  improvement.  Their  religion,  their 
laws,  their  arts,  and  their  agriculture,  all  concur  in 
proving  that  the  Aztec  people  were  not  "  untutored  sa 
vages."  The  fact  of  their  civilization  is  admitted.  But 
whence  did  it  come  ?  What  was  its  point  of  connexion 
with  the  civilizations  that  preceded  it  in  time  ?  Strong 
efforts  have  been  made  to  show  a  connecting  link  be 
tween  the  Aztec  and  Chinese  civilization,  and  the  result 
is  as  follows : 

Some  time  in  the  thirteenth  century  of  the  Christian 
era,  the  Tartar  tribes  of  Asia,  disregarding  Chihoangti's 
wall,  invaded  China,  conquered  it,  and  a  Tartar  prince, 
named  and  titled  Cublai  Khan,  became  emperor  of 
China  by  conquest.  Desirous  of  extending  his  sceptre 
to  the  isles  of  the  sea,  he  despatched  a  great  fleet  to 
make  war  upon  Japan.  Chinese  annals  relate  that  a 
terrible  storm  destroyed  the  whole  fleet,  and  drowned 
a  hundred  thousand  men.  But  theorists  have  made 
another  use  of  this  storm.  They  represent  it  as  car 
rying  Cublai  Khan's  fleet  from  Asia  to  America,  and 
throwing  the  Tartar  and  Chinese  warriors  shipwrecked 
upon  the  Oregon  coast.  Those  of  them  who  escaped 
starvation  and  the  sea,  travelled  southward,  and  settling 
round  Lake  Tezcuco,  founded  the  Mexican  Empire. 


36  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Such  is  the  statement  which  connects  the  ancient  Mexi 
cans  with  China,  and  deduces  from  the  conquering  Tar 
tars  the  cultivation  found  by  the  Spaniards  in  North 
America. 

Now  it  certainly  requires  a  strong- sighted  eye  of 
historic  faith  to  follow  these  Tartars  and  Chinese  across 
sea  and  land,  over  mountain  and  river,  till  they  arrive 
in  Mexico.  But  the  most  inexplicable  part  of  the 
transaction  is,  that  the  Tartars  and  Chinese  in  Mexico 
lose  their  language,  literature,  laws,  arts,  customs,  and 
even  their  religion,  and  acquire  a  civilization  that  bears 
little  or  no  resemblance  to  that  of  their  relations  in  Asia. 
So  very  inexplicable  does  the  affair  appear,  that  I  am 
compelled  to  leave  it,  being  able  to  throw  no  more  light 
upon  it  than  that  which  shines  out  from  the  following 
exquisite  poetic  morceau : 

A  Chinese  emperor,  a  long  time  ago, 

Named  Cublai  Khan, 

A  brave  Tartar  man, 

Wished  to  take  Japan. 

But  not  a  man 

Of  all  that  Cublai  Khan 

Shipped  for  Japan 

Ever  came  back  again  : 
They  were  all  drowned,  and  the  rest  went  to  Mexico. 

Where  is  now  the  Mexican  civilization  ?  Who  in 
herited  it  and  made  it  the  starting  point  of  a  higher  cul 
tivation  ?  Three  centuries  ago  it  was  in  its  glory.  But 
Montezuma  and  his  race  have  no  representative ;  and 
the  ancient  Mexican  life,  lawrs,  language,  literature,  arts, 
and  government,  have  "  gone  to  the  tomb  of  all  the  Ca- 
pulets." 

VI.  A  sixth  form  of  civilization  appeared  among  the 
Saracens,  or  followers  of  Mahomet.  By  the  eighth  cen 
tury  of  the  Christian  era,  the  Saracenic  Empire  was  es- 


.         SARACENIC    CIVILIZATION.  37 

tablished  over  Southwestern  Asia,  Northern  Africa,  and 
in  the  Spanish  peninsula.  This  vast  political  and  re 
ligious  empire,  extending  from  the  Indus  to  Gibraltar, 
became  the  seat  of  the  arts  and  sciences.  A  new  civil 
ization  appeared  in  the  world,  and  the  intellect  and  all 
the  passions  of  man  received  a  mighty  impulse.  Music, 
painting,  poetry,  sculpture,  literature,  medicine,  archi 
tecture,  and  the  various  elegancies  of  a  cultivated  life, 
appeared  among  the  followers  of  the  Prophet.  The 
Arabians,  the  children  of  the  desert,  became  the  patrons 
of  the  fine  arts.  But  why  need  I  detain  you  with  a  re 
cital  of  the  ornamental  and  useful  acquisitions  of  the 
Saracens  ?  Individually ',  socially ,  and  politically r,  they 
left  their  Esquimaux  condition  and  became  men — men 
in  war,  men  in  peace,  and  Mahometans  in  religion. 

Shall  we  ask  whence  came  this  civilization  ?  Did  it 
come  from  Aristotle  and  the  Greeks,  or  were  these  Ara 
bians  civilized  Saracenically ,  and  by  force  of  an  internal 
element  of  improvement  ?  That  their  literati  pored  over 
some  of  the  Grecian  sages,  and  made  barbaric  transla 
tions  of  them,  is  quite  true.  But  it  is  exceedingly  ques 
tionable  if  the  metaphysics  of  Aristotle  and  Plato,  when 
rendered  into  Arabic,  were  promotive  of  Saracenic  cul 
tivation.  The  greater  probability  is  that  such  studies 
rather  retarded  "  the  march  of  mind"  among  the  Ma 
hometans  ;  for  the  entire  cycle  of  Saracenic  thought,  art, 
science,  and  life,  was  peculiarly  their  own,  and  had  little 
in  common  with  the  philosophy  of  the  Greeks. 

What  became  of  this  Saracenic  civilization  ?  Did 
other  nations  make  it  the  starting  point  of  a  higher  cul 
tivation  ?  No  such  thing  occurred.  When  Divine  Pro 
vidence  had  served  its  purpose  with  the  Saracenic 
Empire,  it  seemed  also  to  be  done  with  its  brilliant  cul 
tivation.  Wrhat  was  the  fate  of  that  splendid  civiliza- 

D 


38  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES. 

tion  ?  You  may  trace  its  ghost  eastward  and  northward. 
Eastward  it  took  up  its  abode  in  the  empire  of  Mahmoud 
of  Ghizni ;  and  when  the  Ghiznivede  monarchy  decayed 
and  became  absorbed  into  the  Mogul  Empire  of  India, 
its  civilization  departed  this  life.  Northward,  the  Arabic 
civilization  found  a  home  among  the  Turks.  With  full 
faith  in  their  genealogical  knowledge,  the  descendants 
of  Turk,  the  son  of  Japhet,  had  multiplied  into  vast 
hordes  on  the  steppes  of  Asia,  and  overturned  the 
northern  divisions  of  the  Saracenic  Empire.  The  Sara 
cens  became  to  the  Turks  wrhat  the  Greeks  had  been  to 
the  Romans,  in  imparting  their  civilization.  But  the 
Turk  did  not  improve  as  the  Roman  had  done.  The 
genius  of  the  Turkish  Empire  has  not  been  favourable 
to  an  advancement  or  even  preservation  of  the  Saracenic 
cultivation,  and  its  glories  have  become  dimmed  by  its 
descent  to  the  Ottoman.  The  last  few  centuries  have 
witnessed  its  gradual  decay. 

VII.  The  last  form  of  civilization  to  which  I  shall  call 
your  attention,  appeared  among  the  Germanic  tribes  of 
Northern  Europe.  By  the  defeat  of  the  legions  of 
Varus,  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube  became  the  limits 
of  the  Roman  power  towards  the  Baltic.  Over  the  im 
mense  tract  that  lies  north  and  east  of  those  rivers,  the 
Germanic  tribes  roamed  for  long  centuries,  the  real  In 
dians  of  the  continent.  Pagans  in  religion,  and  Esqui 
maux  in  cultivation,  they  grew  numerous,  bold,  and 
powerful.  Then  they  came  forth  from  their  northern 
hive,  and  under  the  names  of  Goths,  Francs,  Saxons, 
Angles,  Burgundians,  &c.,  overturned  the  western  divi 
sion  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  spread  all  over  Western 
Europe.  Having  destroyed  their  common  adversary, 
they  warred  upon  each  other ;  and  after  centuries  of 
fighting,  mingling,  conquering,  and  being  conquered, 


GERMANIC    CIVILIZATION.  39 

they  became  finally  separated,  and  formed  into  the 
French,  English,  Spanish,  German,  and  other  European 
nations.  This  circle  of  nations,  which  may  be  called, 
by  way  of  distinction,  the  Germanic  family,  exhibits  the 
last  and  still  existing  form  of  cultivation  in  Europe. 
From  this  Germanic  family  of  nations,  has  flowed  the 
civilization  of  our  own  republic,  into  which  has  been 
congregated  the  most  desirable  elements  that  have  been 
developed  in  the  progress  of  the  Germanic  civilization. 
These  elements,  incorporated  into  a  system,  and  blended 
with  those  principles  of  government  which  have  been 
reasoned  out  by  enlightened  patriotism  and  extended 
observation,  form  the  basis  and  superstructure  of  our 
civilization.  In  our  republic  also,  each  member  of  the 
Germanic  family  of  nations  has  its  children :  the  French 
man,  the  German,  the  Hollander,  the  Spaniard,  the  Bri 
ton,  and  the  Swede,  all  have  their  representatives  in 
these  United  States.  A  branch  of  the  Germanic  civili 
zation  has  been  transported  hither,  where,  planted  by 
the  wisdom  of  good  men,  and  nourished  by  the  blood 
of  patriots,  it  gives  promise  of  finer  fruit  than  that  which 
grows  upon  the  parent  stock.  Another  twig  of  it  was 
carried  by  Peter  the  Great  to  Russia,  where  it  has  grown 
into  a  luxuriant  Sclavonic  tree. 

Whence  came  the  Germanic  civilization  ?  Shall  we 
search  for  it  among  the  rubbish  and  ruins  of  the  Roman 
Empire  ?  Or  shall  we  rather  have  recourse  to  the  native 
informing  element  of  improvement  that  belongs  to  our 
nature,  and  assert  that  the  present  nations  of  Europe 
were  civilized  Germanically,  aboriginally,  autochthoni- 
cally  1  Without  stopping  to  discuss  this  question,  we 
may  be  aided  in  forming  an  opinion  upon  it  by  observing 
a  few  of  the  characterizing  elements  of  the  civilization 
of  the  Germanic  nations.  Among  these  elements  we 


40  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

may  enumerate,  first,  the  Christian  religion  ;  next,  the 
ardent  love  of  liberty  which  prevails  among  these 
nations ;  next,  their  arts,  sciences,  and  literature ;  and 
finally,  their  political  organization.  These  elements  mu 
tually  acting  and  reacting  upon  each  other,  have  made 
the  people  of  Europe  and  their  descendants  elsewhere, 
individually,  socially,  and  politically,  what  they  are. 

NowT  if  "light  sprang  from  the  east,"  if  the  present 
civilization  of  the  Europeans  and  their  descendants  is 
the  result  of  a  progressive  improvement  which  began  in 
India  or  Egypt,  or  somewhere  else,  then  it  would  be  a 
legitimate  inference  that  the  elements  of  European  civi 
lization  are  a  product,  a  refined  and  polished  product  or 
result  of  the  civilizing  elements  of  the  nations  that  pre 
ceded  the  present  Europeans. 

Let  us  see  where  this  leads  us.  Is  Christianity  a 
product  or  derived  result  of  the  paganism  that  preceded 
it  ?  Is  the  ardent  love  of  liberty  among  the  Germanic 
nations,  a  product  or  derived  result  of  the  servility  of  the 
Asiatics  and  imperial  Romans  ?  Are  the  arts,  sciences, 
and  literature  of  Europeans,  and  their  political  organiza 
tion,  derived  from  the  nations  that  preceded  them  ?  To 
ask  these  questions  is  to  answer  them.  Indeed,  the  re 
cent  history  of  the  world  teaches  us  that  civilization 
cannot  be  imparted  merely  by  infusion.  The  natives  of 
the  south  seas  melt  away  before  the  civilization  of  the 
Europeans.  The  Indians,  the  aborigines  of  America, 
obstinately  persisted,  and  still  persist  in  savage  life,  not 
withstanding  the  numerous  efforts  made  to  civilize  them. 
Who  will  say  that  the  Greeks  had  as  favourable  oppor 
tunities  of  receiving  civilization  from  the  Egyptians,  or 
the  Germanic  people  from  the  Romans,  as  the  Indian 
tribes  have  had  of  receiving  it  from  the  Europeans  ?  Yet, 
during  an  intercourse  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  years, 


INFLUENCE  OF  RELIGION  ON  CIVILIZATION.  41 

not  an  Indian  tribe  has  been  civilized.  Why  is  this,  if 
civilization  comes  by  derivation  ?  If  the  tendency  of 
nations  is  to  draw  enlightened  life  from  others,  and  to 
receive  the  elements  of  civilization  by  infusion,  how  has 
it  happened  that  the  American  Indians  will  not  let  it  be 
infused  ? 

A  wide  survey  of  the  history  of  the  world  informs 
us  that  the  wisdom  which  gave  to  the  grain  of  wheat 
its  laws  of  germination,  established  a  similar  law  for  the 
moral  and  intellectual  developement  of  man.  The  grain 
of  wheat  thrown  upon  the  barren  rock  gives  no  symptoms 
of  life.  But,  when  subjected  to  the  influences  of  the 
genial  shower,  the  sunshine,  and  the  warm  earth,  it  is 
then  in  circumstances  adapted  to  develope  its  vitality, 
and  the  inhabiting  life  begins  to  act.  After  a  manner 
in  some  respects  similar,  the  civilizing  element  within 
us  seems  to  act  only  when  we  are  placed  in  circum 
stances  adapted  to  its  developement.  When  these  cir 
cumstances  exist,  civilization  seems  to  burst  forth  as  the 
blade  bursts  from  the  germinating  grain.  It  would  be 
idle  to  say  that  this  similitude  is  perfect  in  all  points, 
and  still  more  idle  to  attempt  to  show  that  there  are 
points  of  view  in  which  it  fails.  The  only  object  for 
which  it  is  introduced  is  to  give  some  conception  of  that 
germinating  origin  which  might  be  attributed  to  the  seve 
ral  forms  of  civilization  we  have  enumerated. 

But  time  presses,  and  other  considerations  demand 
our  attention.  Cast  your  eye  over  these  several  forms 
of  civilization,  and  say  what  were  the  influences  which 
operated  through  them  all,  and  aided  to  give  to  the  hu 
man  race  these  several  developements  ?  Without  pre 
tending  to  enumerate  all  these  influences,  let  me  call  your 
attention  to  two  of  them  which  stand  out  with  much 
prominence,  viz..  Religion  and  Commerce. 


42  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Religion  was  an  element  and  an  influence  common 
to  all  the  civilizations.  The  Hindoo,  the  Egyptian,  the 
Chinese,  the  Greek,  and  the  Mexican  civilizations  were 
founded  upon  their  respective  forms  of  paganism :  the 
Saracenic  was  engrafted  upon  the  religion  of  Mahomet, 
and  the  Germanic  civilization  had  its  origin  and  progress 
in  Christianity.  Through  all  these  developements  the  re 
ligious  element  was  most  prominent  and  operative,  and 
fixed  a  character  upon  the  civilization.  Not  to  go  too 
much  into  detail,  I  will  merely  mention  that  Christianity 
was  the  most  prominent  influence  that  gave  motion  to 
the  internal  element  of  life  among  the  Germanic  tribes, 
raised  them  from  barbaric  rudeness,  and  changed  them 
into  Frenchmen,  Germans,  Britons,  Spaniards,  &c. 
Christianity  infixed  into  this  civilization  its  indelible  cha 
racter,  and  is  necessary  to  its  life,  just  as  paganism  in 
fixed  an  indelible  character  into  the  other  civilizations, 
and  became  inseparably  connected  with  their  existence. 
Let  me  illustrate  this  by  referring  to  the  Roman  Empire. 
The  civilization  of  the  Roman  Empire  was  connected  in 
its  origin  and  progress  with  a  pagan  religion,  that  en 
tered  into  the  legislation,  arts,  sciences,  manners,  and 
entire  life  of  the  Romans.  In  the  latter  days  of  the 
empire,  an  attempt  was  made  to  cut  out  the  pagan  ele 
ment  from  the  Roman  civilization,  and  substitute  Christ 
ianity  in  its  place.  But  the  Roman  civilization  died 
under  the  operation.  It  is  immaterial  whether  we  attri 
bute  this  death  to  the  tearing  away  of  the  pagan  religion, 
or  to  the  internal  corruption  of  the  empire,  or  to  the 
might  of  external  enemies,  whose  muscle  and  spirit 
grew  strong  as  Roman  paganism  grew  weak.  The  fact 
of  which  we  speak  is  undeniable :  namely,  that  the  Ro 
man  civilization  did  not  survive  the  paganism  which  ran 
through  it.  An  exhibition  had  been  made  of  a  magni- 


INFLUENCE  OF  COMMERCE  ON  CIVILIZATION.  43 

ficent  pagan  civilization.  The  world  had  witnessed  its 
adaptation  to  develope  the  higher  capacities  of  human 
nature.  The  Roman  Empire  had  then  fulfilled  its  mis 
sion,  and  was  no  longer  necessary  in  the  general  plan  of 
moral  discipline.  It  seemed  too  radically  rotten  to  be 
purified  even  by  the  mighty  purifying  force  of  Christ 
ianity  itself;  and  Providence  laid  it  aside,  and  raised 
up  from  the  northern  Germanic  barbarians  the  present 
family  of  European  nations  and  then*  descendants.  Their 
civilization  rests  upon  Christianity,  and  receives  its  cha 
racterizing  peculiarities  from  the  Gospel.  Many  events 
in  their  history  intimate,  in  a  manner  not  to  be  misunder 
stood,  that  Christianity  is  inseparable  from  the  existence 
of  this  civilization.  An  examination  of  the  other  civil 
izations  would  farther  illustrate  the  truth,  that  the  reli 
gious  element  is  deeply  and  essentially  ingrained  into 
their  existence. 

Commerce  \vas  another  influence  which  operated  ex 
tensively  in  producing  the  several  forms  of  civilization. 
Whether  confined  to  an  internal  traffic,  as  in  China,  or 
extending  to  all  the  world,  as  in  Europe  or  America, 
commerce  has  worn  off  the  rough  angles  of  nations,  and 
imparted  a  polish  to  the  human  race.  Motion,  motion, 
eternal  motion  is  the  universal  law  of  nature.  The 
ocean  purifies  itself  by  agitation  ;  the  earth  moves  on  in 
its  unceasing  course ;  the  air  moves  in  a  whispering 
breeze  or  raging  hurricane ;  the  waters  flow  in  a  mean 
dering  stream  or  raging  torrent :  all  obey  the  universal 
law  of  "push  along,  keep  moving."  Man  receives  a 
benefit  from  his  subjection  to  the  same  law.  Commerce 
shakes  together  the  scattered  fragments  of  mankind,  and 
by  shaking  polishes  them.  The  present  nations  of  Eu 
rope  derived  their  polish  and  release  from  barbarism  in 
a  great  measure  from  commerce.  When  commerce 


44  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

came  to  the  rescue,  the  middle  and  lower  classes  ac 
quired  weight ;  and  the  commercial  cities  of  the  north 
and  south  changed  and  improved  the  individual,  social, 
and  political  condition  of  Europe.  The  rough  corners 
of  the  feudal  system,  or  rather  of  the  iron  system,  were 
worn  off  by  the  friction  of  traffic.  Cities,  and  even  states, 
became  bound  together  by  the  tough  cord  of  interest, 
and  the  civilization  of  the  Germanic  tribes  was  esta 
blished.  A  similar  influence  was  exerted  by  commerce 
on  the  civilization  of  the  Greeks,  Egyptians,  Hindoos, 
Chinese,  and  Aztecs.  Such  was  the  influence  of  religion 
and  commerce  upon  the  several  forms  of  civilization. 

From  this  rapid  survey  we  have  two  results.  The 
first  result  is,  that  the  regular  progression  of  civilization, 
and  its  derivation  by  one  circle  of  nations  from  another, 
is  a  doctrine  not  very  satisfactorily  demonstrated  by  the 
actual  events  that  have  occurred ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand, 
have  these  civilizations  been  all  entirely  disconnected  with 
each  other.  A  few  scattered  rays  of  light  may  have  shone 
from  one  to  another.  But  the  laws,  arts,  sciences,  forms 
of  thought,  and  above  all,  the  whole  life  of  each  of  these 
circles  of  nations,  appear  to  have  had  an  internal,  rather 
than  an  external  origin.  They  came  from  an  internal 
element  of  improvement  that  is  infixed  in  our  nature, 
rather  than  by  infusion  from  without.  The  religion  which 
lies  at  the  basis  of  the  Germanic  civilization  being  of  im 
mediate  Divine  revelation,  is  not  an  improvement  upon 
the  systems  of  paganism  that  preceded  it,  as  was  repre 
sented  by  the  infidel  originators  of  the  theory  of  progres 
sion.  This  element  of  our  civilization,  therefore,  comes 
to  us  not  by  way  of  derivation  from  the  other  civiliza 
tions,  nor  does  it  spring  from  within.  Its  origin  being 
heavenly,  it  is  exempted  from  the  laws  which  govern 
merely  human  productions,  but  its  influence  upon  civili- 


CIVILIZATION    IN    THE   UNITED    STATES.  45 

zation  is  the  more  powerful  on  account  of  its  divine 
descent. 

A  second  result  of  this  survey  is  a  knowledge  of  the 
position  occupied  by  our  own  republic.  The  civilization 
of  the  United  States  is  a  branch  plucked  from  the  Ger 
manic  tree,  and  planted  here  to  undergo  a  new  growth 
and  developement.  Such  is  our  position  in  the  civilizing 
process,  and  such  our  relations  to  the  several  forms  of 
cultivation  that  have  appeared  in  the  world. 

As  our  own  civilization  is  the  one  to  which  our  at 
tention  is  to  be  directed  in  the  ensuing  lectures,  let  me 
in  this  connexion  point  out  one  or  twro  of  its  peculiari 
ties.  Its  foundation  on  Christianity  warrants  the  hope, 
that  the  Germanic  civilization  in  which  we  participate, 
will  continue  till  the  human  race  has  reached  the  fullest 
developement  of  its  nature.  If  paganism,  adapted  to  the 
impure  passions  of  man,  could  give  life,  symmetry,  and 
duration  to  the  civilizations  of  India,  Egypt,  Greece, 
and  Rome,  what  limit  in  time  or  space  shall  hope  assign 
to  a  civilization,  which,  like  ours,  is  based  on  a  religion 
adapted  to  the  real  wants  of  man  ?  The  excellence  of 
its  religious  basis  warrants  pleasing  anticipations  of  the 
permanence  and  ultimate  universality  of  the  European 
or  Germanic  civilization.  In  this  point  of  view,  wre,  in 
common  with  our  European  brethren,  differ  from  the 
other  circles  of  nations  which,  in  India,  Egypt,  and  else 
where,  have  been  civilized  paganally. 

But  this  Germanic  civilization  has  itself  some  peculi 
arities  in  our  own  country,  that  induce  us  to  hope  for  it 
here,  a  higher  degree  of  perfection  than  it  has  attained 
in  the  land  of  its  birth.  What  are  these  peculiarities  ? 
What  are  the  characterizing  features  of  that  part  of  the 
Germanic  civilization  which  has  been  shipped  to  these 
United  States  ?  Look  at  our  political  organization,  and 


46  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

then  answer.  The  elements  of  our  individual  and  social 
cultivation  are  nearly  the  same  as  in  Europe.  But  in 
our  political  organization,  though  we  have  in  many  points 
an  affinity  with  our  European  relations,  yet,  in  others, 
we  differ  widely  from  them.  One  of  these  points  of 
difference  is,  that  we  have  a  representative  democracy, 
while  they  adhere  to  the  regal,  or  imperial,  or  aristo 
cratic  form  of  government.  Another  point  of  difference 
is,  that  we  have  no  legally  established  religion,  while  they 
preserve  a  union  of  church  and  state.  These  are  two 
peculiarities  which  strongly  characterize  our  republic. 
A  word  upon  each  of  them. 

A  political  system  without  a  legally  established  re 
ligion  is  a  peculiarity.  I  call  it  a  peculiarity,  because 
the  system  of  church  and  state  not  only  prevails  in 
Europe,  but  has  prevailed  in  all  nations,  and  in  all  ages 
of  the  world.  The  Roman  emperor  was  the  high  priest 
of  the  pagan  ceremonial,  and  religion  was  an  affair  of 
state.  The  Hindoo  nations,  the  Egyptian  nations,  the 
Grecian  nations,  the  Mexican  nations,  and  the  Chinese 
nations,  before  and  after  their  union  under  that  prince  of 
federalists,  Chihoangti,  all  alike  made  religion  an  affair 
of  state.  And  so  has  every  nation  that  ever  raised  its 
head  into  the  historic  horizon,  the  United  States  alone 
excepted.  In  our  republic  we  have  separated  the  politi 
cal  from  the  ecclesiastical  government.  We  are  an  ir 
religious  nation,  but  a  most  Christian  people.  We  leave 
religion  out  of  the  terms  of  national  union.  We  unite 
to  secure  the  usual  objects  of  a  European  state,  matters 
pertaining  to  religion  excepted.  While  Christianity  lies 
at  the  foundation  of  our  civilization,  and  is  recognised 
as  the  guide  and  governor  of  our  individual,  social,  and 
political  conduct,  its  maintenance  is  left  to  the  bounty 
of  the  people,  untrammelled  by  national  or  state  establish- 


DEMOCRACY   IN    THE   UNITED    STATES.  47 

ments.  Neither  its  purity,  its  progress,  nor  its  influence, 
have  suffered  by  leaving  it  to  the  popular  guardianship, 
free  from  the  corrupting  care  of  national  or  state  legisla 
tion. 

But,  in  the  democratic  element  is  found  another  pe 
culiarity  of  our  political  organization.  We  look  upon 
self-government  as  one  of  the  means  of  moral  discipline, 
one  of  the  system  of  agencies  by  which  the  human  race 
is  to  be  raised,  and  its  powers  and  capacities  developed. 
Democracies  were  tried  among  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
others,  where  civilization  rested  upon  paganism.  But  in 
our  own  republic,  the  first  grand  trial  has  been  made  of 
democracy  resting  upon  Christian  civilization.  I  call 
ours  the  first  Christian  democracy,  without  forgetting 
Holland,  Switzerland,  Venice,  and  the  Italian  republics, 
so  called.  These  were  aristocratic,  or  oligarchic  repub 
lics,  in  which  a  few  of  the  nobles,  or  most  worthy  citi 
zens,  managed  the  political  machine.  The  popular 
masses,  the  undercrust,  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the 
country,  had  no  influence,  either  directly  or  by  way  of 
representation.  I  do  not  say  that  the  popular  masses  in 
these  countries  had  no  influence  upon  the  government ; 
for  the  populace  always  has  an  indirect  influence  either 
in  directing  or  restraining  their  rulers.  But  in  the  United 
States,  the  government  was  created  by  the  popular  masses, 
and  is  managed  by  them  for  their  own  benefit.  The 
fonn  of  the  government  is  a  representative  democracy. 
This  representative  form  avoids  the  tumults  of  a  great 
national  mass  meeting,  and  secures,  at  a  small  expense, 
all  the  benefits  that  could  be  gained  by  the  actual  pre 
sence  of  the  people  themselves.  By  this  means  our  re 
public  is  a  democracy,  or  government  springing  from 
the  people,  and  managed  by  them.  Nowhere  else 


48  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

under  the  Christian  civilization  has  such  a  form  been 
tried. 

Democracy  and  a  free  religion  are  therefore  the  two 
peculiarities  of  our  republic.  The  influences  and  events 
which  made  these  peculiarities  so  prominent  in  the 
United  States  will  occupy  our  attention  in  the  following 
lectures.  The  democratic  element  will  be  the  one  to 
which  our  discussions  will  be  more  particularly  directed. 

These  are  the  most  remarkable  developements  of  civil 
ization  that  have  been  made  in  the  world —  this  is  the 
position  of  the  United  States  among  the  nations,  and 
here  is  the  origin  and  peculiar  elements  of  our  own  cul 
tivation. 

But  let  us  pass  to  the  third  and  last  element  of  hu 
man  history :  namely, 

THE  DIVINE  DESIGN.1 

The  admission  of  a  plan,  purpose,  or  design,  is  of 
essential  service  in  connecting  together  facts  in  the  ordi 
nary  conduct  of  men.  We  are  accustomed  to  speak  of 
human  actions  as  springing  from  a  plan  or  design  ;  and 
this  plan  or  design  of  the  intelligent  mind  gives  unity 
and  interest  to  the  actions  performed  in  its  accomplish 
ment. 

In  like  manner,  the  great  events  of  the  world ;  the 
movements  of  nations ;  the  changes  in  the  condition  of 
masses  of  mankind,  are  clothed  with  new  interest  and 
unity  when  they  are  regarded  as  actions  performed  in 
the  accomplishment  of  a  plan  or  design  of  a  Divine  Go 
vernor.  But  how  do  we  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of  His 
plan  ?  The  world  moves  on  through  ages  ;  generations 
pass  over  the  stage ;  nations  come  into  being,  and  pass 
out  of  being ;  the  great  drama  continues :  but  how  do 
we  become  acquainted  with  the  Divine  design,  which 


THE   DIVINE   DESIGN.  49 

rules  and  produces  any  one  part  of  the  world's  great 
play  ?  We  may  answer  that  we  become  acquainted  with 
it  by  the  same  kind  of  reasoning  which  leads  us  from 
the  actions  of  a  man  to  a  knowledge  of  his  design.  In 
merely  human  affairs  we  reason  from  the  actions  of  men 
to  their  plans  and  purposes,  and  a  knowledge  of  their 
plans  clothes  their  actions  with  new  unity  and  interest. 
Take  a  historical  example  illustrative  of  our  meaning. 

A  Chouan  renegade  at  Paris,  St.  Rejeant  by  name, 
in  the  times  of  the  Consulate,  purchased  at  one  place  a 
barrel,  at  another  a  horse,  at  another  a  cart,  and  at  an 
other  some  powder,  and  drove  about  the  city.  Here 
were  actions.  A  few  evenings  afterwards,  Napoleon, 
going  along  the  street  in  his  carriage,  narrowly  escaped 
being  blown  into  the  air  by  the  explosion  of  the  infernal 
machine.  Here  was  a  result,  a  developement,  which, 
being  connected  with  the  Chouan  carter,  showed  that 
his  design  was  to  blow  up  the  first  Consul.  When  this 
design  became  known,  the  actions  of  the  assassin  in 
purchasing  the  horse,  powder,  and  other  fixtures,  as 
sumed  a  new  unity  and  interest. 

Apply  this  common  mode  of  reasoning  to  the  great 
events  of  the  world,  and  we  are  conducted  towards  a 
similar  result  in  reference  to  the  design  of  the  Ruler 
of  mankind.  We  recognise  his  existence,  and  we  re 
gard  the  general  movements  of  mankind  as  his  system 
of  agencies  for  accomplishing  his  purposes.  We  also 
see  certain  results  of  this  system  of  agencies,  and  from 
these  results  we  infer  His  design  or  plan ;  and  we  may 
then  use  this  knowledge  to  give  unity  to  the  great 
movements  and  events  of  the  world. 

To  particularize  an  example  illustrative  of  this,  take 
the  history  of  our  own  country.  In  North  America,  a 
republic  has  been  established,  where  the  government 


50  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

and  institutions  are  of  popular  origin.  Here  is  a  result 
from  which,  without  looking  farther,  we  may  infer  the 
design  of  the  Divine  Governor  of  the  world  in  reference 
to  our  country.  We  infer  that  he  designed  to  produce 
this  result,  and  so  to  order  the  movements  of  mankind 
that  the  Christian  civilization  of  Europe  should  be 
transplanted  to  this  western  continent,  and  be  here  per 
mitted  to  develope  itself  under  a  popular  government 
and  free  religion.  We  may  employ  this  design  to  give 
unity  and  interest  to  the  innumerable  facts  or  events 
connected  with  the  discovery  and  colonization  of  Ame 
rica,  and  with  the  liberation  and  organization  of  our  re 
public. 

Adapting  our  language  to  the  results  already  reached 
in  our  history,  we  may  say  that  there  is  abundant  evi 
dence  of  a  Divine  design  and  plan  to  establish  a  govern 
ment  in  our  own  country,  on  the  basis  of  democracy 
and  Christian  civilization.  We  need  not  say,  however, 
that  this  result  was  the  one  ultimately  designed  by  Di 
vine  Providence  in  reference  to  our  country,  and,  that 
for  this  alone,  he  brought  about  its  discovery,  coloniza 
tion,  and  liberation.  The  establishment  of  democratic 
government  here,  may  be  merely  preparatory  to  some 
grander  consummation,  in  which  the  moral  Governor  of 
the  world  may  cause  our  political  system  to  eventuate. 
But  this  consideration  excites  a  still  greater  interest  in 
the  events  of  our  history.  The  immediate  design  of  the 
Chouan  St.  Rejeant  (a  pretty  hard  kind  of  a  saint),  in 
procuring  his  old  cart,  horse,  powder,  and  other  appa 
ratus,  was  to  blow  Napoleon  «  sky  high.''  But  the 
accomplishment  of  this  design  was  merely  a  step  prepara 
tory  to  the  overthrow  of  the  consular  government,  and 
the  restoration  of  the  old  line  of  French  kings.  This 
remoter,  this  ulterior  design  increases  the  interest  which 


THE   DIVINE   DESIGN.  51 

is  excited  by  the  Chouan's  actions.  In  like  manner  the 
establishment  of  our  government  and  popular  institutions, 
may  be  merely  a  step  ancillary  or  preparatory  to  a 
grander  result  in  the  moral  discipline  of  the  race.  But 
this  ulterior  and  grander  effect  only  imparts  a  more  in 
tense  interest  to  the  events  of  our  history. 

In  thus  inferentially  travelling  from  results  and  the 
means  by  which  they  are  brought  about  to  the  design 
which  lies  back  of  them,  we  are  merely  treading  on  the 
threshold  of  a  historical  theology.  From  the  adaptation 
of  means  to  ends  in  the  organization  of  material  things, 
a  natural  theology  is  constructed.  The  tongue  of  the 
woodpecker  is  adapted  to  its  mode  of  life — the  blubber 
of  a  whale  wrapped  like  a  cloak  round  its  body  enables 
it,  though  a  warm-blooded  animal,  to  live  in  the  icy 
seas  of  the  north  where  its  food  abounds.  And  so 
through  the  whole  world  of  nature,  the  adaptation  of 
means  to  ends,  and  the  harmony  of  one  organ  with 
another,  are  facts  by  which  we  ascend  to  a  knowledge  of 
a  Creator  wlio  designed,  and  planned,  and  arranged  all 
these  things.  From  this  source  we  have  a  natural  the 
ology. 

We  might,  in  a  similar  manner,  by  pointing  out  the 
adaptation  of  means  to  ends  in  the  accomplishment  of 
great  results  in  the  career  of  the  human  race,  construct 
a  historical  theology.  But  this  is  not  within  our  plan. 
Our  only  object  at  present  is  to  state  the  principle 
of  design,  and  to  employ  it  hereafter,  as  far  as  may  be 
convenient,  to  give  unity  to  the  events  connected 
with  the  discovery,  colonization,  and  liberation  of  our 
country. 

We  have  thus  attempted  to  pass  in  review  before  you 
the  three  main  elements  of  all  human  history,  and  to  ex 
hibit  the  connexion  and  correlation  of  our  republic  with 


52  ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

the  nations  which  have  preceded  it,  or  are  coexistent 
with  it.  We  can  now  proceed  to  an  examination  of 
the  events  and  influences  which  contributed  to  its  orga 
nization.  Before  doing  so,  however,  permit  me  to  state 
the  idea,  that  the  political  and  social  institutions  of  a 
country  are  never  so  correctly  understood  or  appreciated 
as  when  seen  in  the  light  of  their  historic  origin.  True 
it  is,  that  in  going  back  to  the  discovery,  colonization, 
and  liberation  of  our  country,  we  brush  a  little  among 
the  dust  and  cobwebs  of  antiquity.  The  voyage  of 
Columbus,  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  and  even  the 
chivalrous  deeds  of  the  Revolution,  are  events  fast  re 
ceding  into  the  mists  of  past  time.  A  modern  antiquity 
is  settling  down  upon  our  country:  but  the  deeds  done 
in  the  times  of  this  antiquity  are  intimately  connected 
with  our  present  political  organization,  and  are  the  ac 
tions  performed  in  accomplishment  of  a  design  of  sub 
mitting  a  numerous  people  to  the  discipline  of  self-govern 
ment.  We  look  back  to  the  Puritans  at  Plymouth,  to  the 
Hollanders  on  the  Hudson,  to  the  Swedes  on  the  Dela 
ware,  and  to  other  early  fathers  of  our  land,  and  we 
sometimes  think  of  them  as  of  ancient  patriarchs  who 
wore  queues  or  powdered  wigs,  and  broad-brimmed 
hats,  and  who  were  accustomed,  on  a  tranquil  summer 
evening,  to  smoke  their  pipes  and  read  their  Bibles. 
But  it  is  among  those  early  fathers  of  our  country  that 
we  are  to  seek  the  origin  of  the  great  social  and  political 
building  which  now  gives  us  shelter. 

And  even  if  the  events  of  this  organizing  time  were 
more  remote,  so  long  as  we  can  connect  them  with  our 
present  national  existence  or  national  honour,  they  will 
be  to  us  matters  of  thrilling  interest.  For  no  matter 
what  a  hoary  antiquity  may  settle  down  upon  events,  if 
they  are  connected  with  the  origin,  or  honour,  or  glory, 


ORIGIN    OF   INSTITUTIONS.  53 

of  a  people,  they  will  be  dear  to  the  hearts  of  that  peo 
ple.  For  example,  to  the  Jews  through  all  their  national 
and  dispersed  existence,  the  events  of  their  early  history 
have  always  been  matters  of  intense  interest.  Joseph 
in  Egypt ;  Moses  in  the  wilderness  ;  Joshua  in  Canaan ; 
the  lightnings  of  Sinai ;  the  trials  in  the  great  and  ter 
rible  wilderness  ;  the  frogs  ;  the  flies  ;  the  fire  ;  the  hail ; 
the  blood ;  the  awful  darkness ;  and  the  midnight  cry : 
these  are  the  historical  phenomena  which  shine  out 
everywhere  all  over  Jewish  History.  The  whole  Divine 
record  teems  with  them ;  and  the  Jew,  in  all  his  wan 
derings  and  captivities,  looks  back  to  them  as  glorious 
events  illustrating  his  social  institutions  and  religious 
faith.  In  like  manner,  an  Englishman  of  the  present 
day  goes  back  fourteen  hundred  years  to  find,  among 
the  long-bearded  Saxons,  the  origin  of  the  present  Eng 
lish  government  and  English  institutions:  and  as  he 
runs  his  eye  over  his  country's  history,  he  finds  abundant 
matter  of  interest  in  ancient  as  well  as  in  recent  events, 
connected  with  his  national  existence  and  national  ho 
nour.  He  rejoices  that  the  first  as  well  as  the  last  fire 
of  English  artillery  upon  French  troops  at  Crescy  and 
at  Waterloo  were  alike  fatal  to  French  glory.  How 
could  the  Englishman  comprehend  the  institutions  of  his 
country  without  knowing  something  of  their  origin? 
How  could  he  appreciate  his  national  honour  without 
knowing  the  feats  performed  in  its  preservation  ? 

A  German  likewise  finds  matter  of  rejoicing  and  in 
struction  in  the  ancient  events  of  his  fatherland.  In  the 
history  of  his  ancestors  he  sees  the  origin  of  many  of 
his  institutions ;  and  as  he  traces  the  stream  of  events 
from  the  obscurities  of  antiquity  down  to  the  brighter 
illuminations  of  modem  times,  he  finds  much  to  instruct 
and  interest  him.  And  as  he  runs  his  eye  over  the  his- 

E* 


54  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

toric  map,  he  pauses  at  the  field  of  Leipsic  and  exults 
in  remembrance  of  the  grand  battle  of  nations,  whose 
awful  thunders,  under  the  walls  of  that  ancient  city,  an 
nounced  to  fighting  frightened  Europe 

"  Germany  is  free  !" 

Such  events  cut  deep  into  the  political  and  social  or 
ganization  of  a  country ;  and  without  farther  illustration 
we  may  say,  that  by  a  survey  of  events  which  origi 
nated,  moulded,  and  established  the  institutions  of  a 
country,  we  acquire  the  most  correct  knowledge  of  the 
government  and  whole  life  of  a  people.  To  the  matters 
then  connected  with  the  origin  and  organization  of  our 
republic  I  invite  your  attention.  After  we  have  exa 
mined  the  influences  and  events  which  produced  its  or 
ganization,  we  will  present  you  a  view  of  its  practical 
operation.  Deriving  a  knowledge  of  our  institutions 
from  this  source,  you  will  be  prepared  to  appreciate  their 
excellence  and  form  rational  hopes  of  their  permanence. 


LECTURE  II. 
PERIOD  OF  DISCOVERY. 

The  events  of  our  history  to  be  viewed  as  agencies  in  the  establishment 
of  democratic  government — The  period  of  discovery  and  explora 
tion — The  discovery  rendered  inevitable :  I.  By  the  political  con 
dition  of  Europe  ;  II.  By  the  state  of  the  arts  and  sciences — The 
discovery  in  what  respects  accidental — Motives  which  led  to  the  ex 
ploration  of  the  country :  I.  The  desire  to  acquire  new  territory — 
The  rule  of  discovery  ;  II.  The  hope  of  finding  a  westward  passage 
to  India — Attempts  to  discover  such  a  passage — The  hope  of  finding 
gold  in  America — Fabulous  localities  —  Expedition  of  De  Soto. 
III.  The  desire  to  plant  colonies  in  America — Attempts  to  colonize 
the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence — Distribution  of  these  several  motives 
of  exploration  among  the  English,  the  Spaniards  and  the  French — 
Connexion  of  these  discoveries  and  explorations  with  our  Republic. 

IN  the  present  lectures  we  wish  to  use  the  term  de 
mocracy  in  no  contracted  or  party  sense,  but  in  its  more 
original  and  enlarged  signification,  where  it  means  a 
government  of  the  people,  or  rather  a  government  origi 
nating  with  the  people  and  conducted  by  them.  A  de 
mocracy,  in  this  sense  of  the  term,  is  established  in 
North  America.  Here  is  a  fact ;  a  result ;  an  end  ac 
complished  ;  and  a  fact  with  which  we  have  at  present 
much  to  do. 

We  have  already  stated  that  the  admission  of  a  Divine 
plan,  in  pursuance  of  which  the  great  movements  among 
mankind  have  taken  place,  gives  unity  and  increased  in 
terest  to  the  facts  of  history.  If  we  suppose  that  the 
establishment  of  democratic  government  in  North  Ame 
rica  was  an  end  or  result  divinely  appointed,  we  may 
look  forward  from  this  design  and  examine  how  the 


56  ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

events  in  our  history  co-operated  to  produce  our  repub 
lican  organization.  Viewed  in  this  manner,  the  occur 
rences  connected  with  the  discovery  and  colonization  of 
the  country,  and  with  its  political  changes  and  republican 
government,  are  agencies  by  which  a  design  or  plan  is 
accomplished,  and  they  have  consequently  the  unity  and 
interest  which  belong  to  means  wisely  adapted  to  an 
end.  Let  us  look  therefore  at  the  leading  events  of  our 
history,  and  examine  them  as  prospective  contrivances, 
as  facts  and  methods  and  expedients  which  pointed  for 
ward  in  time  to  the  production  and  developement  of 
our  system  of  self-government. 

For  this  purpose  we  will  first  examine  the  events  and 
circumstances  connected  with  the  discovery  and  explora 
tion  of  North  America;  we  will  then  analyze  the  in 
fluences  and  means  by  which  it  was  colonized  ;  we  will 
next  review  the  causes  of  the  American  Revolution, 
and  the  process  of  our  political  organization ;  and 
finally,  we  will  inquire  into  the  growth,  practical  opera 
tion,  and  territorial  extension  of  our  republic.  By  such 
an  examination  you  will  perceive  a  great  diversity  of 
events  and  influences  all  directed  as  if  by  a  ruling  de 
signing  mind,  and  all  converging  to  a  single  point  and 
contributing  to  the  permanent  establishment  of  demo 
cratic  institutions  and  government. 

According  to  this  arrangement,  we  are  first  to  exa 
mine  the  events,  and  circumstances,  and  influences,  con 
nected  with  the  discovery  and  exploration  of  the  country ; 
and  this  will  form  the  subject  of  the  present  lecture. 

The  period  of  discovery  and  exploration  commenced 
with  the  voyage  of  Columbus  (A.  D.  1492),  and  ex 
tended  through  nearly  one  hundred  and  twenty  years. 
His  expedition  broke  down  the  ocean  barrier  that  di 
vided  the  Western  continent  from  Europe,  revealed 


PERIOD    OF   DISCOVERY.  57 

the  new  world  to  the  old,  and  opened  an  extended  field 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  human  race.  The  northern 
antiquaries  have  recently  attributed  to  Iceland  the  honour 
of  discovering  America.  It  is  in  substance  asserted  that 
about  four  hundred  years  before  the  expedition  of  Colum 
bus,  adventurers  from  that  island  sailed  along  the  coast 
of  Labrador,  and  came  as  far  south  as  the  harbours  of 
New  York,  perhaps  to  the  waters  of  the  Delaware  and 
Chesapeake.  Like  the  spies  to  the  promised  land,  they 
found  luxuriant  clusters  of  grapes,  and  commemorated 
their  discovery,  by  naming  their  settlement  in  the 
country  from  its  luscious  fruit,  Vinland.  But  where  was 
Vinland  ?  Where  now  grow  the  rich  clusters  of  grapes  ? 
The  Icelanders  may  have  made  expeditions,  but  their 
voyages  to  America,  if  ever  made,  resulted  in  no  benefit 
to  the  world.  They  gave  to  Europe  no  knowledge  of 
America.  This  great  continent,  with  its  luxuriant  vege 
tation,  its  high  mountains,  its  rivers,  lakes,  prairies,  and 
dusky  Indians,  still  lay  concealed  from  the  old  world  ; 
and  even  Iceland  forgot,  if  she  ever  knew,  its  existence. 

Other  speculators  have  connected  America  with  Asia 
by  the  wray  of  Behring's  Straits,  and  have  brought  among 
other  Asiatics  the  ten  tribes  of  Israel,  on  a  long  journey 
across  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  changed  them  into 
Mohicans,  Mohawks,  and  Kickapoos.  A  poor  rewrard 
for  such  a  long  tramp ! 

Others  have  peopled  America  from  Asia  by  way  of 
the  Japan  Islands,  and  for  this  purpose  have  pressed  into 
their  service  the  expedition  of  the  notable  Cublai  Khan, 
whose  story  you  know.  These  expeditions  to  America 
by  way  of  Iceland  on  the  northeast,  or  by  way  of  Beh 
ring's  Straits  and  Japan  on  the  northwest,  though  they 
may  have  occurred,  yet  they  never  made  known  to  the 
old  world  the  existence  of  America.  That  knowledge 


58  ORIGIN    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

was  communicated  by  the  expeditions  of  Columbus  and 
his  followers.  To  them  and  to  them  exclusively  belongs 
the  honour  of  discovering  and  making  known  to  Europe 
that  there  was  a  western  continent.  The  condition  of 
Southern  and  Western  Europe  rendered  this  discovery 
towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  almost  inevita 
ble.  If  Christopher  Columbus  had  not  made  his  voyage, 
some  other  Columbus  must  soon  have  shown  the  way  to 
America.  My  meaning  wrill  be  illustrated  by  referring 
you  to  the  condition  of  the  nations,  and  to  the  state  of 
the  arts  and  sciences  in  Europe  at  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  when  the  discovery  was  made. 

I.  As  it  respects  the  political  condition  of  the  Euro 
pean  nations,  we  know  that  towards  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  they  obtained  a  national  existence,  and 
received  a  national  organization. 

Europe  underwent  some  very  important  political 
changes  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Prior 
to  that  time  there  were  no  nations  in  Europe,  according 
to  the  present  acceptation  of  the  term.  We  think  of  a 
nation  as  of  a  body  of  people  dispersed  over  a  country 
more  or  less  extensive,  and  bound  together  in  subordina 
tion  to  a  single  government,  and  having  usually  similar 
institutions  and  laws,  and  the  same  common  interests. 
But  previously  to  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
there  were  no  such  nations  in  Europe.  There  were 
Englishmen,  Frenchmen,  Germans,  Portuguese,  Spa 
niards,  &c.,  but  no  nations  corresponding  to  our  present 
views  of  nationality.  Feudal  nobles  divided  Europe 
into  innumerable  principalities.  Spain  was  parcelled 
out  into  little  princedoms,  numbering  twenty  or  more. 
France  was  divided  among  petty  dukes  and  counts, 
each  independent  of  the  rest.  Germany  had  its  herzogs 
and  landgrafs,  each  of  whom  had  his  territories,  where 


POLITICAL   CONDITION    OF    EUROPE.  59 

he  ruled,  "  monarch  of  all  he  surveyed."  England, 
though  more  united  than  the  other  parts  of  Europe,  had 
her  earls  and  dukes,  and  counts  palatine,  who  swayed 
their  little  sceptres  over  their  narrow  possessions.  Por 
tugal  had  also  its  powerful  nobility,  who  ruled  its  dif 
ferent  districts.  And  last,  but  not  least,  the  bishops 
all  over  Europe  became  independent  princes,  and  had 
their  vassals,  their  courts,  and  their  wars.  In  some  of 
these  countries  a  greater  nobleman  claimed  the  title  of 
king  or  emperor,  received  an  empty  homage  from  some 
of  his  fellow-nobles  ;  but  there  his  kingly  authority  ended. 
There  were  bishoprics  and  dukedoms,  and  earldoms  and 
counties,  with  castles  for  head-quarters,  but  there  were 
no  nations  ;  all  was  local,  partial,  and  unnational. 

This  condition  of  things  began  to  change,  and  by  a 
series  of  events  singularly  coincident  over  all  Europe, 
towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  France,  Spain, 
Germany,  England,  and  Portugal,  became  each  united 
into  a  single  nation.  In  each  of  these  countries  a  single 
nobleman  obtained  the  ascendency,  and  brought  the  rest 
into  subjection  to  his  authority.  I  say  that  in  each  of 
these  countries  a  single  nobleman  did  this ;  for  from  the 
death  of  Charlemagne  (A.  D.  814)  to  the  period  of  which 
we  speak,  we  need  take  no  more  account  of  kings  and 
emperors  than  of  dukes  and  counts.  The  royal  titles 
existed  in  some  of  these  countries  ;  but  they  were  titles 
without  power,  shadowy  rather  than  substantial. 

Each  of  these  countries  was,  however,  by  one  cause 
and  another,  towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
subjected  to  a  single  authority.  In  each  country  power 
became  centralized  round  the  throne  of  a  prince,  and  in 
each  there  came  forward  a  Chihoangti,  a  great  federalist, 
who  broke  down  the  little  principalities  and  united  them 
into  one  consolidated  nation.  In  England,  Henry  VII., 


60  ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

in  France,  Charles  VIII. ,  in  Spain,  Ferdinand  and  Isa 
bella,  in  Germany,  Maximilian  I.,  and  in  Portugal,  Don 
Henry,  became  the  heads  of  authority,  and  nations  were 
formed.  The  Italian  cities  of  the  south  and  the  German 
cities  of  the  north,  became  partially  subordinate  to  one 
or  the  other  of  these  principal  nations.  This  fusing  and 
smelting  together  of  the  dissociated  fragments  of  Eu 
ropean  power  into  nations,  occurred  immediately  prior 
to  the  voyages  undertaken  for  the  discovery  and  explo 
ration  of  America.  It  seemed  to  be  necessary  to  bring 
together  into  larger  masses  the  disconnected  particles  of 
power  before  America  was  presented  to  the  old  world. 
This  national  organization  brought  together  the  force 
necessary  to  impel  intellect,  enterprise,  and  commerce 
westward.  Such  a  concentration  of  European  power  was 
one  step  towards  the  inevitable  discovery  of  America. 

Another  circumstance  which  deserves  to  be  noticed 
in  this  connexion  was  the  fact  that  just  at  this  time  the 
doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  kings  came  to  be  an  ar 
ticle  in  the  political  creed.  In  the  local  and  fragmentary 
divisions  of  power  during  the  feudal  or  middle  ages, 
there  was  a  pervading  element  of  democracy.  But  it 
was  democracy  without  extended  government ;  demo 
cracy  approaching  the  wild  independence  of  the  Indian 
tribes.  Immediately  upon  the  subjection  of  the  nobility 
to  the  royal  authority,  the  divine  right  of  kings  wras  pro 
mulgated  ;  and  Providence,  as  if  to  open  the  door  of 
escape  from  such  arrogated  power,  prepared  the  disco 
very  of  America,  and  pointed  out  an  asylum  for  liberty. 

II.  The  state  of  intellectual  improvement  towards  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  was  also  entirely  favourable 
to  the  discovery  of  America.  The  arts  and  sciences  were 
at  that  time  at  a  point  of  advancement  where  they  could 
be  pressed  into  the  service  of  maritime  enterprise. 


STATE    OF   THE   ARTS   AND    SCIENCES.  61 

Southern  Europe  was  the  region  where  this  advancement 
was  most  apparent.  Commerce  had  there  put  forth  its 
humanizing  force,  and  Spain,  Portugal,  and  the  Italian 
cities,  had  attained  a  higher  cultivation  than  the  states 
and  cities  in  the  north  of  Europe.  The  magnetic  needle 
had  become  known,  and  was  applied  to  the  purposes  of 
navigation.  Some  general  notions  also  were  afloat  re 
specting  the  figure  of  the  earth.  Learned  men  began  to 
suspect  most  violently  that  it  was  spherical  and  not  flat. 
Sciences,  or  rather  speculations,  in  themselves  visionary, 
had,  by  putting  intellect  in  motion,  caused  it  to  stumble 
on  many  important  discoveries.  Astrology  had  directed 
attention  to  the  stars,  and  astronomy  was  studied,  that 
men  might  become  more  expert  astrologers.  Many  of 
the  Portuguese  and  Spanish  princes  wishing  to  get  the 
most  information  possible  out  of  the  heavens,  liberally 
patronized  astrology,  and  astronomy  reaped  the  benefit 
of  their  observatories.  All  sciences  and  arts,  and  indeed 
all  things  relating  to  life  and  speculation,  are  closely 
linked  together.  Astronomy  and  the  magnetic  needle 
came  to  the  help  of  the  sailor,  and  ships  ventured  out  on 
the  ocean  with  no  other  guide  than  the  quivering  steel 
in  the  compass-box  ;  and  the  magnetic  fluid  furnished  the 
means  for  effecting  great  changes  in  the  world.  Portu 
gal  took  the  lead  in  maritime  adventure  ;  and,  from  Lis 
bon,  Captain  Diaz  sailed  southward  till  he  passed  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  princes,  the  divine-right  men 
of  the  newly  formed  nations  of  Europe,  were  also  on  the 
alert,  and  eager  to  make  discoveries  by  sea.  Feudalism 
had  enjoyed  its  iron  reign — the  crusades  were  abandoned 
• — tilts  and  tournaments  were  going  out  of  fashion — com 
merce,  printing,  gunpowder,  and  Martin  Luther,  were 
about  to  shake  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Science  was 
bursting  the  cerements  of  its  medieval  chrysalis  state,  and 
F 


62  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

trimming  its  wings  to  soar  away  over  the  oceans  and 
into  the  heavens.  Such  a  state  of  science,  art,  and  go 
vernment,  rendered  the  discovery  of  America  inevitable. 

In  this  condition  of  Western  and  Southern  Europe, 
Columbus  was  travelling  from  kingdom  to  kingdom  in 
the  fond  hope  of  inducing  a  crowned  head  to  furnish 
him  with  ships  and  sailors  to  explore  the  ocean.  After 
being  politely  bowed  away  from  all  the  palaces  of  Eu 
rope,  he  gained  the  ear  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  through 
the  mediation  of  John  Perez,  father  confessor  to  Queen 
Isabella.  Thanks,  father  Perez,  for  that  timely  inter 
ference  !  Democracy  owes  you  a  statue.  Will  not  some 
kind  artist  chisel  you  out  in  marble  as  you  stood  pleading 
with  Isabella  to  send  Columbus  floating  away  westward 
on  the  unknown  Atlantic  ?  The  red  man  may  curse  you, 
but  you  did  well.  Good  bye,  Senor  Perez. 

Many  grand  discoveries  have  been,  so  far  as  human 
intention  is  concerned,  purely  accidental.  The  alche 
mists,  for  example,  made  valuable  discoveries  in  chemis 
try.  Why?  Or  how?  By  proceeding  according  to 
system  ?  Not  at  all.  They  imagined  that  there  was 
some  process  by  which  gold  could  be  formed  out  of  other 
substances;  and  to  discover  this  process  they  fried, 
roasted,  and  stewed  every  beautiful  and  filthy  thing  in 
the  world  of  matter.  What  was  the  result?  They 
cooked  out  many  useful  elements  from  vegetable,  animal, 
and  mineral  substances.  But  these  out-cookings — these 
decoctions,  if  you  prefer  a  Latin  derivative,  were  merely 
accidental.  They  were  not  the  results  at  which  the  al 
chemists  aimed;  but  Providence  so  directed  the  labours 
of  the  gold-hunters,  that  the  splendid  science  of  chemis 
try  was  originated  by  their  experiments. 

The  discovery  of  America  was,  in  like  manner,  ac 
cidental.  By  saying  that  it  was  accidental,  I  mean  that 


THE   DISCOVERY.  63 

it  was  not  the  result  of  system  directed  to  the  discovery, 
by  those  who  engaged  in  the  undertaking. 

America  was  a  fruit,  a  gem ;  a  thing  hit  upon  in  a 
tentative  attempt  to  find  out  something  else.  It  was 
discovered  and  explored  in  the  attempt  to  reach  India 
by  sea.  Commerce  had  long  been  carried  on  with  the 
east  by  way  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  Isthmus  of  Suez, 
and  the  Red  Sea.  The  Venetians,  by  means  of  this 
traffic,  had  literally  clothed  themselves  in  purple  and 
fine  linen,  and  Venice  was  the  commercial  emporium  of 
Europe.  The  route  to  India  round  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  was  yet  unknown.  The  Portuguese  captain, 
Diaz,  had  merely  ventured  to  the  western  line  of  the 
Indian  Ocean,  and  then  returned.  If  the  earth  be  a 
sphere,  said  Columbus,  by  sailing  westward  from  Spain, 
one  must  arrive  in  India.  Here  was  the  prominent  geo 
graphical  truth  of  American  discovery.  The  induce 
ment  presented  to  the  Spanish  sovereigns  to  favour  the 
enterprise  of  Columbus,  was  not  the  discovery  of  a  new 
continent,  but  the  discovery  of  a  short  western  passage 
to  India.  Marco  Polo  had  told  of  a  rich  country  in 
the  east,  called  Cathay,  where  jewels,  gems,  and  gold 
abounded ;  and  imagination  coming  to  the  aid  of  the 
traveller  Polo,  represented  all  the  Cathayans  to  be 
bankers,  with  houses  full  of  pure  solid  shining  metal. 
To  find  out  a  short  passage  to  Northeastern  China,  where 
these  hard-moneyed  gentlemen  had  their  cash,  was  the 
ardent  desire  of  the  avaricious  Europeans.  The  ope 
rating  motive  held  out  by  Columbus  to  Isabella  was  the 
discovery  of  Cathay  by  sailing  towards  the  west ;  Fa 
ther  Perez  electioneered  for  him  on  this  idea,  and  Isa 
bella  finally  set  him  afloat  for  the  purpose  of  discovering 
a  water  highway  to  Cathay.  The  discovery  of  America 
was,  as  you  know,  the  consequence.  But  when  Columbus 


64  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

returned  to  Spain,  the  land  he  had  discovered  was  sup 
posed  to  belong  to  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia ;  the  west 
ward  route  to  India  was  supposed  to  have  been  found 
out,  and  the  newly  discovered  lands  were  named  the 
Indies,  and  the  natives  were  called  Indians.  When 
subsequent  voyages  corrected  the  mistake,  the  epithet 
West  was  attached  to  the  Indies  of  Columbus,  and  the 
world  became  acquainted  with  the  West  Indies. 

Such  was  the  accidental  discovery  of  this  western 
continent.  Providence  had  provided  from  afar  the 
means  by  which  it  was  accomplished ;  and  the  discovery, 
though  accidental  in  respect  to  the  plans  and  designs  of 
men,  was  the  result  of  a  system  of  agencies  established 
by  Him. 

But  Columbus  was  not  the  first  who  discovered  the 
continent.  He  had  merely  landed  at  some  of  the  West 
India  islands,  from  which  he  returned  to  Spain.  The 
honour  of  discovering  the  main  land  belongs  to  the  Ca- 
bots.  John  Cabot  and  his  son,  Sebastian,  sailing  under 
the  patronage  of  Henry  VII.  of  England,  were  the  first 
European  navigators  who  touched  the  coast  of  America. 
Their  landing-place  was  far  north  of  the  boundaries  of 
the  United  States,  among  polar  snows,  icebergs,  and 
natives  clothed  in  skins.  They  first  touched  land  on 
the  coast  of  Labrador,  and  sailed  southward  as  far  per 
haps  as  the  Carolinas. 

Sebastian  Cabot,  under  the  patronage  of  the  same 
sovereign,  made  subsequent  voyages  to  the  coast  of 
North  America,  and  other  navigators  speedily  followed 
in  his  wake.  The  English  king  had  patronized  these 
voyages  partly  in  the  hope  of  reaching  the  East  Indies 
by  a  westward  route  ;  but  the  countries  discovered  dif 
fered  so  exceedingly  from  the  imaginary  pictures  of  the 
rich  Empire  of  Cathay,  and  from  the  fancied  luxuriance 


MOTIVES    TO    EXPLORE.  65 

and  golden  coasts  of  Oriental  Asia,  that  princes  and 
seamen  began  to  believe  that  the  lands  reached  by  Co 
lumbus,  the  Cabots,  and  others,  were  new  lands  which 
had  never  before  been  visited  by  any  Christian  people. 
Amerigo  Vespucci  published  to  the  world  the  first  de 
scription  of  the  Western  Continent,  and  by  doing  so, 
affixed  his  name  to  the  New  World,  and  gained  a  cele 
brity  that  may  outlast  the  fame  of  Columbus  and  the 
Cabots.  These  princely  discoverers  had,  however,  a 
merit  that  could  not  have  been  made  more  known  even 
by  naming  a  continent  in  their  honour.  They  had  a 
leading  part  to  act  in  the  career  of  the  human  race,  and 
they  are  prominent  figures  in  the  general  landscape  of 
humanity.  Their  renown  is  as  imperishable  in  America 
as  it  would  have  been  in  Columbia  or  Cabolia. 

The  discovery  of  America  revealed,  we  say,  a  new 
scene  in  the  drama  of  the  human  race,  and  was  the  first 
of  those  series  of  providences  which  gave  life  to  our  re 
public.  But  the  discovery  itself,  and  the  subsequent 
explorations  of  the  country,  were  made  under  the  influ 
ence  of  three  prominent  motives,  which  had  selfishness 
for  their  common  origin.  The  first  of  these  motives  was 
the  desire  of  the  European  sovereigns  to  acquire  new 
territories  ;  the  second  was  the  hope  of  finding  a  west 
ward  route  to  India,  or  to  some  Cathay  abounding  in 
gold ;  and  the  third  was  the  wish  to  plant  colonies.  Let 
us  examine  a  little  into  the  operation  of  each  of  these 
motives. 

I.  In  regard  to  the  first,  namely,  the  desire  of  the 
European  sovereigns  to  acquire  new  territories,  we  may 
say  that  it  had  a  very  extensive  influence  upon  the  ex 
ploration  and  subsequent  fortunes  of  America.  When 
it  was  ascertained  that  the  lands  found  by  Columbus,  the 
Cabots,,  and  others,  were  not  part  of  Eastern  Asia,  the 


66  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

maritime  nations  of  Europe  commenced  a  race  for  pri 
ority  of  discovery.  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Eng 
land,  were,  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
commercial  nations  of  Europe.  Portugal  was  first,  then 
came  Spain,  while  England  and  France  followed  at  a 
respectful  distance.  The  lordly  Venetians,  who,  during 
the  middle  ages,  monopolized  the  traffic  of  the  Mediter 
ranean,  were  yielding  in  enterprise  to  the  newly  orga 
nized  kingdoms  of  Western  Europe.  These  kingdoms 
were  active  in  pursuing  discoveries  in  the  New  World ; 
and  their  haste  was  the  greater  on  account  of  the  rule  they 
adopted  respecting  the  right  of  discovery.  The  nature 
of  this  right  of  discovery  and  its  origin  are,  perhaps,  not 
so  generally  understood  as  it  ought  to  be.  Its  influence 
on  American  affairs  was  very  extensive,  and  it  still  con 
tinues  to  be  the  guide  in  determining  the  boundaries  of 
European  claims  to  the  soil.  Permit  me  to  state  the 
principles  of  this  right,  as  it  was  an  extensively  operating 
element  in  fixing  the  territorial  limits  of  our  republic,  and 
in  giving  direction  to  the  exploration  and  colonization 
of  the  country. 

The  European  nations,  early  in  the  period  of  disco 
very,  established  the  rule  that  whatever  nation  discovered 
a  new  country,  and  in  a  reasonable  time  took  possession 
of  it  and  settled  it,  was  entitled  to  that  country  to  the 
exclusion  of  other  Europeans.  This  rule  became  part 
of  the  European  law  of  nations.  WThy  ?  It  was  neces 
sary  to  recognise  some  principle  by  which  discoveries 
should  be  regulated ;  and  no  rule  seemed  more  free  from 
embarrassment  than  the  one  which  provided  that  the  na 
tion  discovering  and  taking  actual  possession  of  an  island 
or  tract  of  country,  became  entitled  to  that  country  to 
the  exclusion  of  others.  Spain  recognised  this  rule,  and 
so  did  Portugal,  England,  and  France.  This  rule,  when 


THE   RULE   OF   DISCOVERY.  67 

applied  to  the  continent  of  America,  directed  that  the 
nation  which  discovered  a  bay  or  river,  and  took  actual 
possession  of  it,  became  entitled  to  the  land  watered  or 
drained  by  the  river.  For  example,  when  Hudson  dis 
covered  the  Hudson  river,  Holland,  in  the  employment 
of  whose  subjects  he  sailed,  claimed  the  region  drained 
by  that  river.  In  like  manner,  when  the  French  disco 
vered  the  Mississippi,  they  claimed  the  entire  basin  of 
that  river.  Hence  every  spring  that  bubbled  up  west 
of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  was  within  the  French  dis 
covery.  The  Ohio,  the  Missouri,  the  Tennessee,  the 
Illinois  rivers,  with  the  thousand  other  tributaries,  scat 
tered  from  the  head  springs  of  the  Alleghany  to  the 
distant  fountains  in  which  the  Red  River  rises,  all  come 
within  the  limits  of  the  discovery.  The  basin  of  a  river 
was  a  unit,  a  single  country,  each  part  being  contiguous 
to  the  rest,  and  the  possession  of  the  whole  being  re 
garded  as  necessary  to  the  enjoyment  of  a  part. 

This  rule  of  discovery  wras  adopted  in  practice  by 
the  commercial  nations  of  Europe  because  it  was  a  con 
venient  one,  and,  in  general,  of  ready  application. 
Hence,  for  more  than  a  century  after  the  night  when 
Columbus  hailed  the  land  of  St.  Salvador,  the  French, 
the  Spaniards,  the  Portuguese,  the  English,  and  the 
Dutch,  were  diligent  in  sailing  up  the  bays,  rivers,  and 
creeks  that  give  figure  and  character  to  the  shores  of 
America.  Wherever  they  landed  they  erected  crosses, 
or  built  huts,  or  cut  their  initials  into  a  big  rock,  or  kid 
napped  a  native,  or  burned  a  village,  or  did  some  other 
act  to  show  that  a  Christian  people  had  been  there.  By 
thus  leaving  their  tracks  on  the  land  they  visited,  they 
signified  that  they  took  possession  of  the  country  in  the 
name  and  for  the  benefit  of  their  sovereign. 

But  straight-haired  dusky  Indians  dwelt  in  America ; 


68  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

and  what  right  had  the  Europeans  to  seize  upon  the 
lands  on  which  the  Indian  woman  raised  her  hominy, 
and  over  which  the  Indian  hunter  chased  the  bears  and 
deer  ?  No  right  whatever ;  nor  did  the  Europeans  claim 
such  a  right.  The  rule,  that  priority  of  discovery  and 
settlement  entitled  a  nation  to  the  country  discovered, 
was  not  introduced  to  affect  the  natives,  nor  understood 
to  have  any  operation  upon  them.  It  was  merely  a  re 
gulating  law  adopted  by  the  Europeans  to  guide  them 
in  their  conduct  towards  each  other  in  regard  to  their 
discoveries.  For  example,  when  France  discovered  the 
Mississippi,  the  rule  of  priority  of  discovery  and  settle 
ment  operated  to  exclude  other  European  nations  from 
that  soil.  This  was  the  whole  effect  of  the  Law  of  Dis 
covery.  It  required  that  the  French  should  be  left  to 
deal  with  the  natives  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
according  to  the  French  notions  of  justice.  If  they 
chose  to  traffic  with  those  natives,  they  had  the  exclu 
sive  right,  under  this  rule,  to  do  so.  If  they  chose  to 
purchase  the  title  of  the  natives  to  the  soil,  they  had 
the  exclusive  right  to  do  so.  If  they  chose  to  hunt  them 
down  like  wild  beasts,  they  had  the  exclusive  privilege 
to  do  so.  No  other  nations  had  a  right  to  trade  with 
the  Indians,  or  purchase  lands  from  them,  within  the 
limits  of  the  French  discovery.  If  the  discovering  nation 
wronged  the  Indians,  at  their  own  door  lay  the  sin.  As 
a  farther  illustration  of  the  meaning  and  operation  of  the 
rule,  we  may  mention  that  when  the  Portuguese  disco 
vered  the  route  to  the  East  Indies,  round  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  Portugal  claimed  the  right  to  exclude  other 
European  nations  from  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  arrogated 
to  herself,  on  the  ground  of  discovery,  a  monopoly  of  the 
trade  of  the  east.  No  European  sails  except  her  own 
were  to  be  spread  on  the  seas  that  wash  the  shores  of 


THE    RULE   OF   DISCOVERY.  69 

Southern  Asia.  The  pearls,  the  diamonds,  the  gold, 
the  spices,  the  teas,  the  silks,  and  all  the  trade  with  the 
pagan  princes  of  the  east,  were  to  come  to  Europe  in 
Portuguese  ships.  But  notwithstanding  these  lordly 
pretensions,  Portugal  claimed  no  rights  against  the  na 
tives  of  Southern  and  Eastern  Asia,  and  with  them  she 
stood  in  the  relation  of  one  nation  to  another.  Her  claims 
were,  however,  too  extensive  for  her  power,  and  she  failed 
to  substantiate  them.  The  rest  of  the  world  thought 
that  her  discoveries  in  the  east  should  be  thrown  into 
common  stock  for  the  general  benefit  of  mankind. 

These  examples  are  introduced  solely  to  illustrate  the 
kind  or  extent  of  right  conferred  by  discovery  under  the 
rule  adopted  by  the  Europeans.  It  is  often  asserted 
that  they  claimed  the  soil  and  sovereignty  of  America 
from  the  natives  by  virtue  of  the  discovery,  and 
much  philanthropic  rhetoric  has  been  poured  forth  in 
condemnation  of  such  a  claim.  In  theory ,  no  such  claim 
was  ever  advanced.  During  the  period  of  discovery, 
the  European  nations,  like  the  Portuguese  in  the  Indian 
Ocean,  claimed  by  virtue  of  their  discoveries,  an  exclu 
sive  trading  privilege  with  the  nations  within  their  re 
spective  discoveries.  When  the  period  of  colonization 
arrived,  the  natives  were,  in  fact,  dispossessed  often  by 
violence,  sometimes  by  purchase,  and  sometimes  by 
fraud.  Humanity  was  often  dealt  out  to  them  in  homoeo 
pathic  doses.  Much  commiseration  was  often  ex 
pressed  for  their  pagan  condition,  and  while  the  tears  of 
compassion  were  "  trembling  on  the  eyelids,  ready  to 
drop,"  the  poor  Indian's  hunting-ground  was  appropri 
ated  to  his  European  benefactor.  You  may  have  seen 
the  caricature  of  one  heart  feeling  for  another.  Two 
hearts  are  pictured,  and  out  of  one  of  them  comes  an 
arm  and  hand  feeling  for  the  other.  This  absurd  picture 


70  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES. 

is  a  pretty  fair  type  of  the  grasping  kind  of  feeling  which 
the  Europeans,  during  the  periods  of  discovery  and  co 
lonization,  exhibited  towards  the  natives  of  America, 
But,  notwithstanding  these  abuses  of  power  on  the  part 
of  the  Europeans,  many  brilliant  examples  of  pure  and 
Christian  justice  are  found,  in  their  intercourse  with  the 
natives.  This  rule  of  discovery,  by  conferring  upon  the 
nation  who  discovered  a  tract  of  country  the  exclusive 
right  to  traffic  with  the  natives,  and  the  exclusive  right 
to  obtain  from  them  the  soil  and  sovereignty  of  the  terri 
tory,  incited  the  European  nations  to  send  expeditions 
to  the  New  World.  And  yet,  strange  though  true,  it 
required,  after  the  voyage  of  Columbus,  a  century  to  dis 
cover  the  Hudson,  two  centuries  to  discover  the  Missis 
sippi,  and  three  centuries  to  discover  the  Columbia. 

II.  The  second  motive  above  mentioned,  namely,  the 
hope  of  finding  a  westward  route  to  India,  or  to  some 
region  rich  in  gold,  was  much  the  most  effective  in 
making  the  American  continent  known  to  Europe. 
Gold,  gold,  and  the  westward  passage  to  India — these 
were  the  idols  at  whose  shrines  the  Portuguese,  the 
Spaniard,  the  Frenchman,  and  the  Englishman,  all 
bowed.  A  Yankee  of  the  present  day,  believes  that  a 
pair  of  shoes,  or  a  bushel  of  wheat,  or  a  fat  beef,  or  a 
wooden  clock,  is  as  substantial  wealth  as  a  piece  of  gold. 
Tell  a  Pennsylvanian  that  the  anthracite  coal  beds  con 
tain  ninety-nine  parts  to  the  hundred  of  pure  diamond, 
and  that  if  one  part  more  of  the  pure  matter  were  added 
to  these  ninety-nine,  the  whole  anthracite  region  would 
become  a  massive,  brilliant  jewel,  and  he  will,  perhaps, 
tell  you,  "  the  coal  beds  are  more  valuable  as  they  are." 
Three  hundred  years  ago,  however,  a  different  idea  of 
wealth  pervaded  the  European  mind.  Gold  and  silver, 
and  gems  and  jewels,  these  were  wealth — nothing  else 


WESTERN   ROUTE   TO   INDIA.  71 

was  worthy  the  name.  This  false  theory  of  political 
economy,  is  the  key  to  the  whole  commercial  and  colonial 
history  of  Europe.  In  obedience  to  it,  the  sovereigns 
of  the  several  kingdoms  of  Europe  encouraged  expedi 
tions  westward  in  search  of  gold.  Some  of  them,  the 
Spaniards  for  example,  attempted  to  find  this  gold  on 
the  American  continent ;  others  of  them  attempted,  by 
discovering  a  westward  route  to  India,  to  get  at  the 
purses  of  the  rich  bankers  of  Cathay.  Were  we  asked 
to  name  the  leading  characterizing  motive  which  gave 
impulse  to  the  English  explorations  of  North  America, 
during  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  of  the  period 
of  discovery,  we  would  say  that  it  was  the  hope  of  finding 
the  western  route  to  India.  It  was  in  search  of  this  that 
Cabot  was  sent  on  the  voyage  which  resulted  in  the  dis 
covery  of  continental  America.  Sebastian  Cabot's  ac 
count  of  his  voyage,  exhibits  this  ruling  motive  so  lumi 
nously,  that  I  am  tempted  to  present  it  before  you.  In 
his  own  language,  as  reported  by  his  biographers,  it  runs 
as  follows,  the  orthography  being  modernized : 

"  When  news  were  brought  that  Don  Christopher  Co 
lumbus  of  Genoa  had  discovered  the  coast  of  India, 
(whereof  was  great  talk  in  the  court  of  King  Henry  the 
Seventh,  who  then  reigned,  insomuch  that  all  men,  with 
great  admiration,  affirmed  it  to  be  a  thing  more  divine 
than  human  to  sail  by  the  west  into  the  east,  where 
spices  grow,  by  a  way  that  was  never  known  before),  by 
this  fame  and  report  there  increased  in  my  heart  a  great 
flame  of  desire  to  attempt  some  notable  thing.  And, 
understanding  by  reason  of  the  sphere,  that  if  I  should 
sail  by  way  of  the  northwest,  I  should  by  a  shorter  tract 
come  to  India,  I  thereupon  caused  the  king  to  be  adver 
tised  of  my  device,  who  immediately  commanded  two 
caravels  to  be  furnished  with  all  things  appertaining  to 


72  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

the  voyage,  which  was,  as  far  as  I  remember,  in  the  year 
1496,  in  the  beginning  of  summer.  I  began,  therefore, 
to  sail  toward  the  northwest,  not  thinking  to  find  any 
other  land  than  that  of  Cathay,  and  from  thence  to  turn 
toward  India :  but  after  certain  days  I  found  that  the 
land  ran  towards  the  north,  which  was  to  me  a  great 
displeasure.  Nevertheless,  sailing  along  by  the  coast  to 
see  if  I  could  find  any  gulf  that  turned,  I  found  the  land 
still  continent  to  the  56  degree  under  our  pole.  And, 
seeing  that  there  the  coast  turned  toward  the  east,  de 
spairing  to  find  the  passage,  I  turned  back  again  and 
sailed  down  by  the  coast  of  that  land  toward  the  equi 
noctial  (ever  intent  to  find  the  said  passage  to  India), 
and  came  to  that  part  of  this  firm  land  which  is  called 
Florida,  where  my  victuals  failing  I  departed  from  thence 
and  returned  to  England,  where  I  found  great  tumults 
among  the  people,  and  preparation  for  wars  in  Scotland, 
by  reason  whereof  there  was  no  more  consideration 
had  of  this  voyage."* 

We  can  readily  imagine  the  "  displeasure"  of  the 
worthy  navigator  when  he  could  find  no  passage  leading 
to  the  golden  Cathay.  His  representation  of  the  motives 
of  his  voyage  exhibits  the  earnest  desire  of  England.  His 
disappointment,  however,  did  not  end  the  search  for  the 
western  route  to  India.  Henry  VIII. ,  and  after  him,  Eliza 
beth,  fitted  out  several  expeditions,  and  encouraged  their 
subjects  to  undertake  others,  for  the  purpose  of  seeking 
this  western  passage.  Among  these  adventurers,  Fro- 
bisher  was  despatched,  under  the  patronage  of  Elizabeth, 
on  several  expeditions,  in  search  of  the  earnestly  desired 
route.  After  several  attempts  among  the  icebergs  of  the 
north,  he  succeeded,  not  in  discovering  India,  but  in  affix- 

*  Memoirs  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  page  10. 


.     WESTERN   ROUTE   TO    INDIA.  73 

ing  his  name  to  a  channel  south  of  Greenland.  He  thus 
gained  a  name  on  the  map  of  the  world,  and  made  sailors 
and  school  boys  acquainted  with  Frobisher's  Straits. 
After  he  had  worn  out  his  reputation  by  repeated  fail 
ures,  some  London  merchants  fitted  out  a  couple  of  ves 
sels,  appropriately  named  Sunshine  and  Moonshine,  and 
sent  them  in  A.  D.  1585,  under  the  command  of  "  hon 
est"  John  Davis,  to  find  out  the  western  route  to  India. 
Davis  proved  himself  a  seaman  of  the  highest  order,  and 
made  three  successive  voyages  to  the  northern  coast  of 
America.  He  made  various  landings  on  the  southwest 
ern  coast  of  Greenland,  and  passed  through  the  straits 
that  have  been  named  in  his  honour.  After  buffeting 
the  icebergs,  and  wandering  among  the  freezing  mists, 
he  penetrated  far  into  Baffin's  Bay,  and  returned  from 
his  third  voyage  to  communicate  the  disconsolatory  in 
telligence  that  great  barriers  of  ice  obstructed  his  way. 
Sensible  men  in  England  began  to  think  that  the  west 
ward  route  to  India  was  literally  "  moonshine." 

But  the  sunshine  of  hope  still  sent  its  life  to  English 
exploration,  and  Sir  Francis  Drake  was  despatched  by 
Elizabeth  to  the  Pacific,  with  directions  to  search  the 
bays  and  inlets  on  the  northwestern  coast  of  America, 
and  find,  if  possible,  a  channel  of  communication  be 
tween  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic.  It  was  certainly  a  cun 
ningly  devised  idea,  that  if  a  passage  on  the  north  could 
not  be  found  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  one  might 
be  found  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic.  Drake  went 
on  his  mission ;  but,  instead  of  searching  for  a  passage 
on  the  northwest,  he  turned  freebooter,  and  plundered 
the  Spanish  towns  on  the  western  coast  of  America. 

The  day-dreams  of  the  English  in  regard  to  the 
western  passage  to  India,  were  dreamed  over  again  by 
the  Dutch,  who  had  just  asserted  their  independence, 

G 


74  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

and  who  spent  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century 
in  a  terrific  struggle  with  their  Spanish  sovereigns.  Com 
merce  poured  its  treasures  into  Amsterdam,  and  the 
Holland  East  India  Company  sent  Henry  Hudson  in 
search  of  the  long  desired  western  passage  to  Asia.  Ar 
riving  off  the  coast  of  Maine,  he  voyaged  towards  the 
south,  and  discovered,  in  A.  D.  1609,  the  Hudson  river. 
Hoping  to  find  some  outlet  by  which  he  could  proceed 
to  Asia,  he  passed  up  the  river  to  the  head  of  the  tide, 
or  perhaps  farther.  What  a  brilliant  geographical  idea 
•was  that  of  going  to  India  by  pushing  a  boat  along  by 
Kinderhook  and  Troy !  The  discovery  of  the  Hudson, 
however,  constituted  the  claim  of  Holland  to  the  basin 
of  the  Hudson  river,  and  brought  the  Dutch  to  settle  in 
New  York. 

Passing  from  the  service  of  Holland  to  that  of  Eng 
land,  Hudson  again  went  in  search  of  the  western  pas 
sage  to  India.  Directing  his  course  towards  the  north 
west,  he  entered  that  inland  ocean  which  has  received 
from  him  the  name  of  Hudson's  Bay.  Encountering  in 
credible  hardships,  he  wintered  on  its  icy  shores,  and, 
full  of  faith  and  hope,  prepared  to  renew  his  explorations 
in  the  spring.  Wanting  the  faith,  and  not  participating 
in  the  enthusiasm  of  their  leader,  his  crew  mutinied,  and 
committing  him  to  an  open  boat,  left  him  to  perish  in 
the  wintry  and  rugged  sea  he  had  discovered.1 

Such  was  the  central  idea  of  the  English  explorations 
of  America  during  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  years 
of  the  period  of  discovery.  The  English  were  not,  it 
is  true,  without  the  hope  of  finding  gold  in  America,  but 
their  attempts  at  gold  hunting  were  singularly  unfortu 
nate,  and  had  something  of  a  ludicrous  cast.  Among 
these  moonshine  attempts  wrere  the  feats  performed  by 
Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  and  Frobisher,  in  .the  reign  of 


•  *-  SEARCH    FOR    GOLD.  75 

Elizabeth.  Sir  Humphrey  having  been  sent  to  explore 
the  coast  of  Virginia,  was  carried,  by  the  thirst  of  gold, 
to  the  banks  of  Newfoundland.  The  "mineral  man" 
of  the  expedition,  a  real  Dousterswivel,  discovered  gold 
at  this  great  fishery.  Quietly  lading  their  ships  by 
night,  and  completely  duping  the  French,  Spaniards, 
and  Portuguese,  who  were  in  the  same  region,  the  Eng 
lish  sailed  for  home,  and  landed  a  cargo  of  shining 
metal,  which  proved  to  be  iron  pyrites,  almost  as  valu 
able  as  a  cargo  of  paving-stones.  Frobisher's  perform 
ance  was  of  the  same  character.  He  carried  away  two 
hundred  tons  of  gold-like  metal  from  the  frozen  shores 
of  the  strait  that  bears  his  name,  and  brought  it  safely 
to  London.  It  proved  to  be,  like  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert's 
prize,  all  "  moonshine." 

Such  feats  did  not  dispose  the  English  to  seek  farther 
for  American  gold.  They  preferred  the  treasures  that 
were  to  be  poured  into  good  old  England  when  they 
should  discover  the  western  passage  to  the  golden  coasts 
of  Oriental  Asia. 

The  leading  motive  of  the  Spanish  explorations  wras 
the  hope  of  finding  gold  and  silver  in  America.  In 
search  of  this  they  desolated  Mexico  and  Peru.  Pizarro 
and  Cortes  were  mere  mineral  men,  mere  imbodiments 
of  the  ruling  spirit  of  Spain.  Their  discoveries  poured 
the  precious  metals  into  the  mother  country,  and  en 
couraged  worthy  Spanish  grandees  to  explore  the  Ama 
zon  and  La  Plata,  and  drive  their  mules  across  the  Andes. 

It  is  a  matter  of  interest  to  think  of  the  imaginary  re 
gions,  ways,  and  waters,  which  the  early  explorers  for 
gold  and  silver,  and  the  India  passage,  located  in  Ame 
rica.  Among  these  imagined  lands  was  the  one  called 
by  the  Spaniards  Quivira.  They  believed  that  after  the 
death  of  Montezuma,  a  prince  of  his  family,  accompanied 


76  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

by  a  band  of  trusty  followers,  with  immense  treasures, 
retired  deep  into  the  forests  north  of  Mexico,  where  they 
founded  a  kingdom  called  Quivira,  whose  capital,  Ci- 
bola,  was  rich  in  gold.  Many  expeditions  were  under 
taken  by  the  Spaniards  into  the  country  north  of  Cali 
fornia,  in  search  of  this  golden  city.  They  found  a 
desolate  country,  but  never  caught  a  glimpse  of  Cibola. 

A  similar  tradition  prevailed  respecting  a  country  in 
South  America  between  Brazil  and  Peru,  where  there 
existed  a  rich  empire  named  Paitaiti.  Hither  the  Incas 
of  Peru  had  retired  with  their  treasures,  and  erected  a 
new  empire.  North  of  Paitaiti  was  El  Dorado,  a  country 
full  of  gold,  in  search  of  which,  Walter  Raleigh  under 
took  his  adventures.  His  fruitless  search  has  rendered 
the  name  proverbial  for  imaginary  golden  regions. 

South  of  Paitaiti  was  a  third  fabulous  land,  whose 
golden  capital  was  dignified  by  the  name  of  the  "  City 
of  the  Caesars."  In  this  magnificent  country,  house- 
tiles  and  ploughshares  were  made  of  gold. 

Such  were  some  of  the  golden  regions,  in  search  of 
which  long  journeys  were  undertaken,  and  incredible  pri 
vations  endured.  Closely  allied  in  influence  with  these 
metallic  regions  were  other  localities,  whose  remarkable 
properties  caused  them  to  be  eagerly  sought  after.  The 
fountain  of  Bimini  was  one  of  these  rare  and  desirable 
places.  It  was  situated  in  the  present  Florida  or  Georgia, 
and  possessed  the  property  of  renewing  the  youth  of  those 
who  bathed  in  its  waters.  According  to  popular  belief, 
whoever  laved  his  mangy  limbs  in  this  fountain  would 
be  purified,  and,  what  was  still  more  desired,  would 
live  on  in  "  immortal  youth"  in  more  enjoyment  than  is 
promised  in  the  Paradise  of  Mahomet.  The  old  Spa 
nish  knight,  Ponce  de  Leon,  undertook  an  expedition 
in  search  of  this  precious  fountain.  He  traversed  Flo- 


EXPEDITION   OF   DE   SOTO.  77 

rida  and  the  adjacent  regions  ;  but  instead  of  the  limpid 
fountain  of  Bimini,  he  floundered  among  deep  morasses 
and  frog-ponds,  caught  the  ague,  and  died  with  disap 
pointment. 

But  the  flowing  waters  of  Bimini  and  the  rich  em- 

Q 

pires  of  Quivira  and  El  Dorado,  were  not  the  only 
objects  of  attraction  to  the  Spaniards,  or  the  only  influ 
ences  that  sent  them  into  North  America.  They  aimed 
at  territorial  discovery  and  other  beneficial  results. 
Ponce  de  Leon  was  in  Florida,  searching  for  Bimini,  in 
A.  D.  1512.  He  was  followed  into  the  same  region  by 
Ayllon,  who  coasted  as  far  north  as  South  Carolina, 
caught  a  ship-load  of  natives,  and  sold  them  for  slaves. 
Gomez  and  Narvaez  followed  him,  and  came  as  far  north 
as  New  England,  seeking  for  a  strait  or  outlet  through 
which  to  go  to  the  East  Indies. 

But  the  history  of  discovery  in  North  America  is 
illumined  with  one  magnificent  expedition  of  the  Spa 
niards,  under  De  Soto.  Fable  has  impressed  its  mark 
upon  it,  and  the  scissors  of  critics  have  almost  clipped 
it  from  the  pages  of  history.  The  expedition  is,  how 
ever,  an  attractive  episode  in  the  details  of  American 
discoveries,  and  is  so  much  in  harmony  with  the  spirit 
of  the  age,  that  if  it  never  did  take  place  it  has  been 
wondrously  well  imagined,  and  does  not  present  half  so 
mythic  and  suspicious  a  figure  as  thousands  of  Cublai 
Khan  stories  detailed  for  general  information.  It  merits 
your  notice  as  a  proper  representation  of  the  gold-hunt 
ing  mania. 

What  is  known  of  this  expedition  ?  By  birth  a  no 
bleman,  in  wealth  a  prince,  De  Soto  left  the  vines  and 
olives  of  his  native  Spain  to  seek  for  gold  in  the  forests 
of  North  America.  A  soldier  under  Pizarro,  he  had 
witnessed  the  luxuriance  and  shared  the  spoils  of  the 


78  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Incas  of  Peru.  Popular  credulity  had  peopled  the  fo 
rests  of  North  America  with  cities  and  temples  glittering 
with  jewels,  and  rich  in  all  that  could  tempt  the  cupidity 
of  reckless  avarice.  Emulous  of  the  glory  of  Pizarro 
and  Cortes,  De  Soto  obtained  from  the  Spanish  sove 
reign,  the  far-famed  Charles  V.,  permission  to  explore, 
colonize,  and  govern  the  lands  north  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  Accompanied  by  a  princely  retinue,  he  landed 
on  the  coast  of  Florida,  in  A.  D.  1539.  In  his  train 
came  a  motley  mixture  of  women  and  artisans,  pigs, 
poultry,  and  horses,  and  blood-hounds  to  hunt  the  In 
dians.  The  leaders  of  the  army  shone  with  trappings 
of  gold,  and  the  whole  was  a  sight  "  goodly  to  look 
upon."  Landing  upon  the  southwestern  coast  of  the 
peninsula  of  Florida,  they  inarched  into  the  wilderness 
in  search  of  gold.  Plunging  into  the  depths  of  the  fo 
rests,  they  carried  with  them  the  implements  of  hus 
bandry,  Bibles,  priests,  cards,  and  wine.  They  tra 
versed  the  swamps  of  Florida,  the  pine  barrens  of 
Georgia,  and  entered  South  Carolina.  They  then  turned 
westward,  and  penetrated  to  the  waters  of  Alabama, 
which  flow  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  They  descended 
to  Mobile,  fought  there  a  bloody  battle  with  the  natives ; 
then  turned  to  the  northwest,  and  reached  the  Missis 
sippi.  Crossing  it,  they  made  a  circuit  into  the  north 
west  quarter,  and  turning  southward  came  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Red  River.  There,  broken  down  with  disappoint 
ment,  and  wasted  with  disease,  De  Soto  died.  Wrapped 
in  his  mantle,  and  cased  in  his  armour,  his  body  was 
sunk  in  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi ;  an  appropriate 
burial  for  the  discoverer  of  the  great  river  of  the  west. 
After  the  death  of  De  Soto,  his  little  army  turned  west 
ward,  thinking  to  march  by  land  to  Mexico.  They 
were  soon  in  the  great  American  desert  of  the  south, 


FRENCH   COLONIZATION.  79 

and  in  a  state  of  starvation.  Compelled  to  retrace  their 
steps,  they  reached  the  Mississippi  above  the  mouth  of 
Red  River,  built  boats,  descended  to  the  ocean,  and 
thence  proceeded — a  miserable  remnant — to  the  Spanish 
colonies  in  Mexico. 

Such  was  the  splendid  Spanish  expedition  into  the 
limits  of  the  present  United  States.  For  what  was  it 
undertaken  ?  To  find  gold,  and  the  splendid  cities  with 
which  Spanish  fancy  had  filled  North  America.  Mexico 
was  supposed  to  be  merely  one  of  the  many  golden 
cities  of  the  New  World.  In  search  of  the  others,  this 
and  other  expeditions  were  undertaken.  But  disap 
pointment  cooled  the  ardour  of  avarice,  and  the  Spa 
niards  did  not  retrace  the  route,  or  revisit  the  burial- 
place  of  De  Soto  :  they  ceased  to  explore  North  Ame 
rica. 

III.  The  third  prominent  motive  that  influenced  the 
explorations  and  discoveries  in  North  America,  was  the 
desire  to  plant  colonies.  The  English  visited  America 
because  it  was  on  the  way  and  in  the  way  to  India,  the 
Spaniards  visited  it  in  search  of  gold,  and  the  French 
to  establish  colonies.  While  England  and  Spain  were 
in  search  of  their  two  favourite  objects,  the  French  were 
catching  fish  at  Newfoundland,  and  visiting  the  different 
points  of  interest  in  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Following  up  that  stream  they  came  to  the  great  lakes, 
and,  having  obtained  a  general  idea  of  the  form  and 
magnitude  of  those  inland  seas,  they  subsequently  pro 
ceeded  southwestward,  and  came  upon  the  waters  of 
the  Mississippi.  Following  that  great  river  «  on  its 
winding  way,"  they  came  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
by  these  explorations  became,  under  the  European  rule 
of  discovery,  inchoately  entitled  to  the  vast  regions 
drained  by  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi.  All  this, 


80  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

however,  was  the  work  of  nearly  two  centuries;  for  it 
was  in  1673  that  Marquette  and  Joliette,  the  French 
pioneers,  left  the  lakes  of  the  northwest  and  found  the 
father  of  western  waters. 

These  explorations  were,  for  the  most  part,  under 
taken  in  the  hope  of  creating  a  New  France  in  North 
America.  The  desire  of  the  French  government  was  to 
plant  a  colony  on  the  St.  Lawrence,,  which  would,  in  it 
self,  be  a  great  empire  subordinate  to  the  mother  country. 
French  enthusiasm  luxuriated  in  the  vision  of  a  vast  ter 
ritory  in  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  pouring  its 
treasures  into  Old  France.  John  Verrazani  wras  the  Ca 
bot  of  French  discovery ;  but  it  was  to  James  C artier 
that  France  owed  the  discovery  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
A  commission  of  the  French  king  to  him  and  Francis  de 
la  Roque,  Lord  of  Roberval,  gave  authority  to  establish  a 
colony  in  New  France,  as  the  country  drained  by  the 
St.  Lawrence  was  christened.  But  their  attempt  was  a 
failure,  as  were  many  subsequent  efforts  of  a  similar  cha 
racter.  A  whole  century  passed  away,  and  it  was  not 
till  about  A.  D.  1600,  that  Champlain,  a  hardy  and  dis 
creet  French  adventurer,  laid  the  foundations  of  a  per 
manent  French  colony.  After  exploring  the  St.  Law 
rence  he  founded  Quebec,  and  became  the  Father  of 
New  France.  Lake  Champlain,  in  the  United  States, 
commemorates  his  name,  and  France  was  indebted  to 
him  for  her  colonies  in  America. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Huguenots,  suffering  at  home 
from  religious  persecution,  endeavoured  under  Coligny 
to  plant  a  colony  in  Carolina.  There,  in  A.  D.  1562, 
they  began  to  plant,  to  sow,  and  to  build.  But  disasters 
overtook  them,  the  colony  was  abandoned,  and  the  only 
relic  it  has  bequeathed  to  our  own  time  is  the  name  Ca 
rolina,  so  called  from  Charles  IX.,  who  then  sat  on  the 


_  MOTIVES   TO    EXPLORATION.  81 

French  throne.  The  Huguenots  made  other  explora 
tions,  and  again  settled  a  colony  on  the  St.  John's  river, 
in  Northern  Florida.  This  too  had  an  ephemeral  exist 
ence  and  a  tragic  end,  being  destroyed  by  the  Spaniards. 
The  actual  colonists  of  New  France  were  the  hardy  fish 
ermen,  and  adventurers  who  came  to  make  gain.  Reli 
gious  zeal,  too,  sent  her  Jesuit  missionaries  into  the  basin 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  those  adventurous  fathers  con 
tributed  much  to  the  discovery  of  the  country.  Yet  the 
hope  of  establishing  a  colony  wras  the  leading,  impelling 
motive  that  brought  the  French  to  North  America. 

We  have  now  presented  in  detail  before  you  the 
three  leading  motives  which  influenced  the  European 
nations  in  making  discoveries  and  explorations  in  North 
America.  The  desire  of  acquiring  new  territories  was 
common  to  them  all ;  but  the  central  idea  of  the  Eng 
lish  explorations  wras  that  the  East  Indies  could  be  found 
by  the  westward  passage ;  the  Spaniards  searched  for 
gold ;  and  the  French  desired  to  establish  a  great  Ame 
rican  colony  subservient  to  the  interests  of  Old  France. 
In  representing  these  as  the  characterizing  ideas  on 
which  these  several  nations  acted,  we  do  not  wish  to  be 
understood  as  saying  that  no  other  motives  whatever  had 
any  influence  upon  them ;  nor  do  we  intend  to  say  that 
these  several  ideas  or  motives  did  not  all  act  unitedly 
upon  each  of  these  nations.  The  English,  the  French, 
and  the  Spaniards,  would  all  have  picked  up  gold  if 
they  could  have  found  it,  or  they  would  all  have  paid 
their  compliments  to  the  rich  Cathayans  if  they  could 
have  made  the  acquaintance  of  those  Asiatic  gentlemen. 
All  that  we  wish  to  represent  is,  that  the  prominent  mo 
tives  which  brought  the  Europeans  to  America  during 
the  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  of  the  period  of  dis 
covery,  were  so  distributed  that  the  English  mainly 


82  ORIGIN    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

sought  for  the  Indies,  the  Spaniards  for  gold,  and  the 
French  for  the  means  to  establish  colonies.  All  were 
ambitious  of  owning  great  regions  in  America. 

But  what  connexion  had  these  motives  for  visiting 
and  exploring  the  western  continent,  writh  the  establish 
ment  of  our  republic  ?  How  did  the  search  for  gold,  or 
for  India,  or  the  attempt  to  colonize  New  France,  har 
monize  and  connect  themselves  with  the  plan  or  design 
of  the  Ruler  of  the  world  in  regard  to  democratic  go 
vernment  in  America?  The  connexion  was  intimate 
and  natural,  and  the  harmony  was  the  harmony  of  means 
adapted  to  an  end.  These  motives  to  visit  America, 
these  prominent  ideas  respecting  gold  and  the  Indies, 
and  colonial  possessions,  made  our  continent  known  to 
Europe,  and  revealed  its  rivers,  bays,  valleys,  and  moun 
tains.  These  impulses  to  explore  the  country,  and  the 
explorations  themselves,  were  agencies  similar  to  those 
usually  employed  to  bring  about  great  and  remote  re 
sults  in  the  movements  of  the  human  race.  The  masses 
of  men  act  from  views  of  present  interest,  or  from  an 
expectation  of  results  that  are  to  be  realized,  if  possible, 
within  the  statute  of  limitations.  In  forming  their  plans 
of  action,  they  do  not  look  forward  to  the  remote  con 
sequences,  or  direct  their  actions  to  the  attainment  of 
ends  beneficial  to  mankind  in  general.  They  do  not 
act  upon  extensive  far-reaching  plans  that  are  to  be  con 
summated  centuries  after  the  grass  has  grown  upon  their 
graves.  This  universal  benevolence  may  be  professed, 
and  there  may  occasionally  be  found  an  actual,  real 
Man  of  Ross ;  but,  in  the  rough  and  busy  world,  few 
men  plant  trees  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  in  general ; 
few  men  cultivate  orchards  with  a  view  to  benefit  their 
descendants  of  the  fifth  generation.  Present  interests 


RESULTS   OF   THE    EXPLORATIONS.  83 

and  speedily  realized  results,  are  the  usual  motives  to 
action. 

Providence  permits  these  motives  to  influence  the 
conduct  of  men ;  and  their  actions  then  become  instru 
ments  or  agencies  in  his  hands  for  accomplishing  his 
purposes.  Viewed  in  reference  to  the  plans  of  Provi 
dence,  the  explorations  of  America,  from  whatever  mo 
tive  performed,  were  instruments  or  agencies  similar  to 
those  usually  employed  in  accomplishing  schemes  for 
the  remote  benefit  of  mankind.  The  French,  English, 
and  Spanish  adventurers  did  not  brave  starvation,  agues, 
and  Indians,  with  a  view  to  establish  a  popular  govern 
ment  in  America  two  centuries  after  their  pilgrimage 
should  be  ended.  They  acted  from  motives  of  present 
interest;  and  the  establishment  of  a  democracy  was 
brought  about  in  the  way  of  natural  consequence  from 
their  actions. 

This  is  the  usual  course  of  events.  Men  act  from 
motives  that  are  interested,  temporary,  and  local,  and  Pro 
vidence  employs  their  acts  as  his  system  of  agencies  to 
bring  about  the  ends  he  has  planned.  Suppose  Sebastian 
Cabot,  when  in  his  older  days  he  urged  Henry  VIII.  to 
send  an  expedition  to  explore  America,  had  presented  as 
a,  motive  to  his  majesty,  the  great  benefit  he  would  do 
to  the  world  and  posterity.  Suppose  the  old  sailor  had 
painted  before  the  king  a  vision,  in  which  was  seen  the 
American  republic,  where  the  popular  masses  do  the 
governing,  where  no  established  church  grinds  the  con 
science  of  the  worshippers,  and  where  an  unostentatious 
citizen  presides  over  nineteen  millions  of  his  countrymen 
with  their  consent,  and  by  their  votes.  Suppose  Cabot 
had  urged  such  an  end  as  a  motive  to  explore  America, 
what  effect  would  have  been  produced  upon  the  royal 
Englishman,  with  his  lofty  ideas  of  kingly  prerogative, 


84  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

and  ecclesiastical  supremacy  ?  Henry  would  merely 
have  echoed  the  general  sentiment  of  the  mass  of  man 
kind,  if  he  had  replied  with  the  energy  of  a  modern  poli 
tician, 

"  Why  talk  so  much  about  posterity  ?  What  has 
posterity  done  for  us  ?" 

Well,  Henry,  they  have  done  one  thing  for  you  in 
particular ;  they  have  pronounced  you  a  pretty  "  hard 
case,"  though  you  had  the  heroism  to  marry  six  wrives. 
But,  though  such  remote,  uncongenial,  and  undesirable 
results  would  have  had  little  influence  upon  a  Henry 
VIII.,  yet,  when  it  was  represented  to  him  and  his  sub 
jects  that  by  sailing  westward  the  route  to  India  might 
be  found,  springs  of  action  were  touched,  and  ships  visit 
ed  North  America.  Gold  and  colonial  possessions  sent 
the  French  and  Spaniards  to  the  same  region.  Through 
the  influence  of  these  avaricious  motives,  the  explora 
tion  of  America  was  more  effectually  made  than  if  the 
Gilberts,  the  Cabots,  the  Frobishers,  the  Hudsons, 
&e.,  had  sailed  for  the  single  purpose  of  organizing 
our  republic. 

It  is  in  this  way  that  the  interested,  temporary, 
and  local  motives  of  men,  bring  about  remote  ends 
in  the  general  course  of  Providence.  Viewed  as 
agencies  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  plan  to  esta 
blish  a  republic,  the  explorations  of  America,  though 
springing  from  selfish  motives,  assume  a  remarkable 
unity  and  interest.  Their  unity  is  the  unity  of  many 
separate  actions,  all  having  a  prospective  reference  to 
one  end ;  namely,  the  establishment  of  democracy. 
Their  interest  is  the  interest  that  attaches  to  actions  done 
in  the  accomplishment  of  a  vast,  magnificent,  and  far- 
sweeping  plan. 

The  period  of  discovery,  during  which  these  explo- 


COLONIZATION    BEGINS.  85 

rations  were  made,  extended,  as  I  have  already  intimated, 
over  one  hundred  and  twenty  years.  It  is  not  pretended 
that  the  explorations  of  America  ceased  precisely  at  the 
end  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  from  the  voyage 
of  Columbus  ;  for  they  have  not  yet  ceased.  But  when 
that  time  had  elapsed,  the  Europeans,  and  especially 
the  English,  began  to  entertain  more  rational  views  re 
specting  America.  They  began  in  good  earnest  to 
plant  colonies,  and  to  look  to  the  soil  as  the  source 
of  wealth  in  the  New  World.  The  period  of  dis 
covery  was,  however,  a  necessary  prelude.  It  was 
the  time  of  visions,  and  the  hour  of  preparation.  To  it 
succeeded  the  heroic  age,  the  age  of  colonization,  to 
whose  examination  we  now  hasten. 


LECTURE  III. 
COLONIZATION  BY  CORPORATIONS. 

Period  of  Colonization — Connexion  of  its  events  with  democratic  go 
vernment — Attempts  at  Colonization — The  first  attempt  is  made  by 
foreign  corporations — King  James's  charters — I.  Attempt  by  a  cor 
poration  to  colonize  Virginia;  success,  difficulties,  and  final  failure — 
II.  Attempt  by  a  corporation  to  colonize  New  England  ;  difficulties, 
grants  of  territory,  and  failure — III.  Attempt  by  a  corporation  to 
settle  New  Sweden — IV.  Attempt  by  a  corporation  to  settle  the 
New  Netherlands:  The  Dutch  West  India  Company — V.  Attempt 
by  a  corporation  to  colonize  Georgia — Objects  and  difficulties — Suc 
cessive  failure  of  these  attempts — Causes  of  their  failure — Corpora 
tions  not  well  fitted  to  plant  colonies — Benefits  arising  from  their 
labours,  and  dissolution. 

WE  have  reviewed  the  period  of  discovery  and  ex 
ploration,  and  come  next  to  the  period  of  colonization. 
This,  like  the  former,  extended  through  nearly  one 
hundred  and  twenty  years.  For  the  effective  coloniza 
tion  of  our  country  began  about  A.  D.  1610,  and  was 
continued  at  different  times,  and  at  different  points,  till 
about  A.  D.  1732,  when  Georgia,  the  youngest  of  the 
ante-revolutionary  colonies,  was  planted. 

In  the  previous  lecture,  we  stated  that  the  apparently 
disconnected  discoveries  and  explorations  of  North 
America  were,  by  reference  to  the  general  results  already 
developed,  connected  together  as  acts  in  the  system  of 
agencies  by  which  our  republic  was  established.  The 
numerous  and  apparently  disconnected  attempts  at  Ame 
rican  colonization,  are  also  intimately  connected  with 
the  same  result ;  and  though  they  were  in  themselves 
separate,  fragmentary,  dissociated  events,  having  on  the 


COLONIZATION    BY    CORPORATIONS.  87 

part  of  the  actors  no  reference  to  the  organization  of  an 
extensive,  united  government,  yet  they  so  harmonized, 
and  so  wrought  together,  that  they  became  parts  of  the 
same  system  of  agencies,  and  concurred  in  ultimately 
producing  the  United  States.  It  is  true  that  the  events 
of  American  colonization  are  very  disconnected — one 
colony  was  planted  in  the  south,  another  in  the  north, 
and  others  were  scattered  along  the  Atlantic  coast ;  the 
colonists  came  to  the  wilderness  under  different  leaders, 
had  different  prospects,  and  formed  different  communi 
ties.  But  unity  in  the  midst  of  diversity  is  a  law  of  na 
ture,  which  extends  alike  through  material  things  and 
moral  events.  In  the  structure  of  the  plant  there  are 
roots,  and  branches,  and  bark,  and  leaves,  and  wood, 
and  pith,  all  combined,  and  contributing  to  the  growth 
and  developement  of  the  tree.  The  sap  passes  through 
its  appropriate  channels,  the  bud  swells,  the  leaf  ex 
pands,  the  flower  blooms,  the  fruit  appears,  and  the 
sprout  grows  into  a  tree.  Here  various  expedients  are 
provided  and  employed  to  accomplish  a  single  end.  In 
like  manner,  the  events  of  the  period  of  American  coloni 
zation  were  diversified,  numerous,  and  various;  but 
they  were  combined  into  a  single  system  of  agencies, 
and  contributed  to  the  production,  growth,  and  develope 
ment  of  our  republic.  They  too  wrere  expedients — va 
rious  and  diversified  expedients — provided  and  employed 
to  accomplish  a  single  end.  They  had  a  prospective 
reference  to  the  establishment  of  democratic  government 
in  America ;  and  here  again  allow  me  an  illustration 
from  material  things.  The  eye  is  formed,  before  birth, 
in  the  dark  recess  of  the  head ;  but  in  its  organism 
there  are  lenses,  and  coats,  and  humours,  and  nerves, 
forming  an  apparatus  evidently  designed  to  reveal  the 
glorious  tints  of  light  that  colour  and  beautify  the  heavens 


88  ORIGIN    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

and  the  earth.  Who  can  deny  that  the  eye  is  a  pro 
spective  contrivance  ?  Who  does  not  believe  that  it  is 
formed  with  reference  to  the  world  that  is  to  be  revealed 
at  birth  ?  After  a  manner  in  some  respects  similar,  the 
old  thirteen  colonies  had,  in  their  origin,  a  prospective 
reference  to  another  state  of  political  existence.  Their 
powers — their  uses — the  ends  they  were  to  subserve  in 
the  general  movements  of  mankind,  began  to  be  more 
fully  revealed  at  that  birthday  of  freedom,  the  American 
Revolution. 

Let  us  examine  the  colonization  of  America,  in  re 
ference  to  this  subsequent  national  existence.  Let  us 
see  in  what  manner  the  influences  and  events  connected 
with  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  colonies  became 
agencies  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  plan  to  establish 
a  republic.  We  can  perform  this  task  most  readily,  by 
directing  our  attention  to  the  several  kinds  of  attempts 
that  were  made  to  plant  and  govern  colonies  in  America. 
Were  we  to  classify  these  attempts  according  to  their 
nature,  the  arrangement  would  be  as  follows : 

First,  Foreign  corporations  tried  to  plant  and  go 
vern  colonies  in  America ; 

Second,  Feudal  nobles  tried  to  plant  and  govern  co 
lonies  in  America ; 

T/iird,  The  crown  tried  to  plant  and  govern  colonies 
in  America ; 

Fourth,  The  people,  the  masses,  independently  of 
foreign  corporations,  feudal  nobles,  and  the  crown,  tried 
to  form  colonies  in  America. 

The  old  thirteen  colonies  originated  in  one  or  other 
of  these  four  kinds  of  attempts.  It  is  obvious,  that  if 
corporations,  or  feudal  nobles,  or  the  crown,  had  suc 
ceeded  in  planting  and  governing  these  colonies,  demo 
cracy  would  not  and  could  not  have  become  triumphant. 


COLONIZATION    BY    CORPORATIONS.  89 

The  success  of  the  fourth  attempt  at  colonization — the 
attempt  of  the  popular  masses — was  essential  to  the  pro 
duction  of  the  ultimate  result,  the  establishment  of  po 
pular  government.  That  this  result  might  be  reached, 
it  was  necessary  either  that  the  popular  masses  should 
do  the  colonizing,  or  that  they  should  enter  into  the 
labours  of  the  corporations,  the  feudal  nobles,  and  the 
crown.  In  fact,  both  these  events  happened.  The  po 
pular  masses  did  succeed  in  forming  colonies,  and  they 
did  oust  the  other  three  classes  of  colonizers  from  their 
possessions,  and  appropriated  their  labours.  The  cor 
porations  failed,  the  feudal  nobles  failed,  and  the  crown 
failed  in  their  attempts  to  put  themselves  and  keep  them 
selves  at  the  head  of  American  colonies.  The  fruits  of 
their  toils  and  expenditures  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
fourth  class  of  colonizers — the  popular  masses. 

In  classifying  the  attempts  at  colonization  into  the 
four  classes  just  enumerated,  we  have  reference  to  the 
nature  of  the  attempts,  and  not  to  the  order  of  time  in 
which  they  were  made.  In  point  of  fact,  the  attempts 
of  the  popular  masses  were  in  origin  nearly  synchronal 
with  the  attempts  of  the  corporations.  And  the  whole 
four  were  going  forward  at  the  same  time,  sometimes 
one  occupying  the  largest  share  of  attention,  and  some 
times  another.  When,  therefore,  we  refer  to  these  at 
tempts  as  the  first,  second,  third,  and  fourth,  we  must 
be  understood  as  speaking  of  them  in  the  order  above 
adopted,  and  not  as  intimating  that  the  one  preceded  or 
followed  the  others  in  a  chronological  order. 

That  we  may  have  a  correct  view  of  the  operation 
of  each  of  these  attempts  in  originating  our  republic, 
we  will  call  your  attention  to  them  a  little  in  detail.  In 
doing  so,  however,  it  may  be  well  to  premise  that  they 
will  be  frequently  found  to  run  into  each  other ;  so  that 


90  ORIGIN    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

colonies  which  were  commenced  by  a  corporation  often 
pass  into  the  possession  of  the  crown,  or  of  the  popular 
masses ;  and  so  of  the  others.  But  preserving,  as  far 
as  conveniently  practicable,  the  order,  or  classification 
above  stated,  we  will  review  the  several  attempts  at  co 
lonization  in  the  order  now  mentioned ;  and  first : 

FOREIGN  CORPORATIONS  TRIED  TO  PLANT  AND  GOVERN 
COLONIES  IN  NORTH  AMERICA. 

By  foreign  corporations,  in  this  connexion,  is  under 
stood  corporations  whose  members  did  not  reside  in  the 
colony.  If  such  corporations  could  have  colonized 
America,  the  New  World  would  speedily  have  been 
filled  with  inhabitants  from  Europe ;  for,  by  the  com 
mencement  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  English  had 
grown  weary  of  their  search  for  the  western  route  to 
India.  The  visions  of  the  French,  in  regard  to  the  es 
tablishment  of  a  great  colony  in  America  subservient  to 
the  interests  of  the  mother  country,  crossed  the  British 
Channel,  and  became  by  A.  D.  1600  the  visions  of  the 
English,  whose  attention  was  now  turned  to  the  soil  of 
America,  and  projects  were  formed  in  England  for  cre 
ating  colonies  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Corporations 
were  the  agencies  through  which  these  colonial  projects 
were  sought  to  be  realized,  and  commercial  cupidity  was 
the  immediate  moving  influence.  In  obedience  to  its  im 
pulse,  adventurers  sought  the  means  of  enriching  them 
selves  from  the  soil  and  fisheries  of  America.  Applica 
tion  was  made  to  the  English  king  to  lend  "  the  light  of 
his  countenance"  to  the  enterprise,  and  in  A.  D.  1606, 
James  I.  affixed  the  royal  signature  to  a  document  as 
extraordinary  as  any  that  the  world  ever  saw.  This  was 
a  charter  incorporating  Sir  Thomas  Gates,  and  certain 
other  loyal  and  dutiful  subjects,  into  a  company,  to 


COLONIZATION    BY    CORPORATIONS.  91 

which  the  charter  granted  the  soil  and  sovereignty  of  a 
belt  of  North  America,  extending  from  the  thirty-fourth 
to  the  forty- fifth  parallel  of  latitude,  and  reaching  from 
the  Atlantic  coast  away  westward  to  the  Pacific.  Look 
at  the  map,  and  you  will  see  that  this  grant  extended  on 
the  Atlantic  border  from  South  Carolina  to  the  middle 
of  Maine,  and  had  a  western  appendage  as  long  as  the 
tail  of  a  comet. 

But  what  right  had  the  royal  Scotchman  to  give 
away  North  America  to  corporations  or  individuals  ? 
The  right  of  discovery.  But  admit  that  England  had  a 
right  to  North  America  by  discovery,  how  came  it  that 
the  English  parliament  had  no  voice  in  granting  it  away  ? 
Why  did  King  James  take  the  matter  into  his  own 
hands,  and  give  away  the  country  at  his  pleasure? 
Here  is  the  centre  of  the  great  truth  which  stood  out  so 
prominently  at  the  American  Revolution.  The  English 
kings,  like  the  colonists  at  the  Revolution,  asserted  that 
countries  newly  discovered  by  English  subjects  belonged 
to  the  crown,  and  that  parliamentary  legislation  should 
be  limited  to  matters  within  the  realm.  Hence,  when 
the  Cabots,  sailing  from  England,  discovered  North 
America,  the  discovery,  according  to  the  language  of 
those  times,  enured  to  the  king's  benefit,  and  was  at  his 
disposal.  King  James  accordingly  regarded  America 
merely  as  a  great  farm,  whose  acres  he  could  dispose 
of  at  his  wall  without  consulting  parliament ;  and  hence, 
of  his  free  grace  and  mere  motion,  he  gave  away,  of  the 
new  continent,  a  belt  of  eleven  degrees,  embracing  a 
country  capable  of  sustaining  the  one-third  of  the  human 
family. 

This,  it  must  be  admitted,  was  a  pretty  liberal  dona 
tion  ;  but,  in  making  it,  the  English  sovereign  merely  fol 
lowed  the  custom  then  prevalent  in  Europe  of  giving  away 


92  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

immense  tracts  of  the  New  World,  without  inquiring  par 
ticularly  into  their  extent  or  value,  or  into  his  own  right 
to  dispose  of  them.  The  Roman  pontiff  had,  more  than 
a  century  before  the  incorporation  of  King  James's 
mastodon  company,  kindly  divided  the  world  between 
Spain  and  Portugal.  His  Holiness  supposed  a  line  to  be 
drawn  from  the  north  to  the  south  pole,  and  running 
near  the  ports  of  Cadiz  and  Lisbon.  Spain  \vas 
to  have  all  newly  discovered  countries  west  of  this 
line,  and  Portugal  all  east  of  it.  This,  it  must  be  con 
fessed,  was  a  pretty  liberal  division  ;  but  King  James's 
grant  was  only  a  little  more  modest  than  this  partition  of 
the  pontiff. 

I.  Through  the  agency  of  this  English  corporation 
was  commenced  the  first  colony  in  the  United  States. 
The  corporation  itself  was  divided  into  two  companies, 
one  of  which  was  to  occupy  itself  in  colonizing  the 
southern,  and  the  other  the  northern  part  of  the  grant. 
The  southern  company,  known  as  the  London  company, 
immediately  commenced  operations.  Under  their  di 
rections,  a  ship  bearing  the  first  emigrants  to  a  permanent 
English  settlement  in  America,  entered  the  waters  of  the 
Chesapeake,  in  A.  D.  1607.  As  a  compliment  to  the 
English  sovereign,  they  named  the  capes  of  this  bay, 
Henry  and  Charles,  the  names  of  the  sons  of  King 
James.  They  sailed  fifty  miles  up  a  river,  to  which  they 
gave  the  name  of  James's  River,  in  honour  of  their  so 
vereign.  They  landed  in  the  wilderness,  and  commenced 
a  town,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Jamestown, 
also  in  honour  of  their  sovereign.  How  many  of  their 
children  they  named  James,  in  honour  of  the  same  king, 
we  know  not ;  but  the  care  taken  by  the  corporation  to 
propitiate  their  sovereign  by  these  little  pieces  of  flattery, 
exhibits  their  anxiety  to  retain  his  good  will,  by  minis- 


COLONIZATION   BY    CORPORATIONS.  93 

tering  to  his  vanity.  These  names  which  are  still  re 
tained,  are  a  lasting  memorial  of  the  auspices  under 
which  our  republic  commenced. 

The  landing  of  these  emigrants  at  Jamestown  was 
the  commencement  of  the  old  thirteen  colonies.  One 
hundred  and  five  colonists  there  began  to  build  these 
United  States.  To  say  that  disease,  want,  despair,  and 
rapid  mortality  attended  their  first  attempts,  would  be  a 
statement  of  facts  that  occurred  not  only  in  Virginia, 
but  in  nearly  all  the  early  colonies  of  America. 

We  have  represented  that  to  this  corporation  the 
king  transferred  both  the  soil  and  sovereignty  of  the 
territory  described  in  the  grant.  This  absolute  property 
and  sovereignty  was  not  indeed  fully  conveyed  in  the 
first  form  of  the  charter ;  but  that  document  within  a 
few  years  underwent  several  modifications  and  enlarge 
ments,  by  virtue  of  which  the  free  and  absolute  owner 
ship  of  the  soil,  as  well  as  the  right  to  govern  it,  wras 
vested  in  the  corporation.  To  that  body  was  committed 
all  authority  over  the  plantations  within  their  territory.  I 
have  made  this  statement  with  the  more  explicitness,  for 
the  purpose  of  saying  that  to  a  corporation  belongs  the 
honour  of  the  good,  and  the  blame  of  the  evil  which 
attended  the  early  steps  of  the  Virginia  colony. 

The  evils  which  the  colony  suffered  from  being  under 
the  ownership  and  government  of  a  corporation  were, 
the  want  of  political  privileges,  exposure  to  the  rapacity 
of  their  masters,  the  bad  government  of  faithless  agents 
of  the  corporation,  and,  generally,  all  the  vexations  and 
injuries  which  flow  from  an  absolute  subjection  to  a  body 
without  a  conscience. 

The  benefits  which  the  colonists  derived  from  being 
under  the  ownership  and  government  of  a  corporation, 
may  be  referred  to  their  individual  rights  and  political 


94  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

privileges.  In  respect  of  individual  rights,  the  emi 
grants  were  at  first  the  servants  of  the  corporation,  and 
had  no  private  property  in  the  soil.  They  laboured  in 
common,  and  brought  the  fruits  of  their  toil  into  the 
storehouses  of  the  corporation,  and  received  in  return 
all  that  they  produced,  and  a  little  more.  The  corpora 
tion  finding  this  a  profitless  business,  changed  their  sys 
tem,  and  transferred  lands  to  individual  colonists  in 
private  property.  Immediately  a  new  state  of  affairs 
appeared.  The  colonists  already  in  Virginia  began  to 
work  in  good  earnest ;  others  embarked  from  England  ; 
industry  increased,  and  population  began  to  stream  into 
the  new  colony.  In  respect  of  political  privileges,  the 
emigrants,  upon  their  first  arrival,  were  subject  to  the  ab 
solute  government  of  the  corporation  ;  and  their  governor 
appointed  by  the  company  in  England,  combined,  in  his 
single  person,  the  four  great  functions  of  lawgiver,  judge, 
jury,  and  executive.  His  imperial  authority  was  occa 
sionally  restrained  by  a  council,  whose  members,  like  him 
self,  derived  their  appointment  from  the  corporation. 
Under  this  system,  a  bad  man  in  the  governor's  chair 
was  a  terrible  scourge,  and  a  few  bad  men  happened  to 
get  there ;  a  good  man  in  the  same  station  was  a  bless 
ing  devoutly  to  be  desired,  and  Sir  George  Yeardley,  a 
good  man,  was  placed  there. 

Under  his  administration  the  political  tyranny  of  the 
corporation  came  to  an  end.  By  his  permission,  though 
without  the  authority  of  the  corporation,  the  colonists 
assembled  by  their  delegates,  and  were  admitted  to  a 
share  in  the  government.  Here  was  the  commencement 
of  the  legislative  liberty  of  the  future  republic.  It  oc 
curred  in  June,  A.  D.  1619 ;  the  year  and  the  month 
deserved  to  be  commemorated. 

The  corporation  in  England,  when  informed  of  this 


COLONIZATION   BY    CORPORATIONS.  95 

ebullition  of  liberty  in  their  American  dominions,  were 
not  surprised  that  Englishmen  should  so  act,  and  they 
rather  approved  than  annulled  the  action  of  the  spon 
taneous  assembly.  To  get  money — honestly  if  they 
could — but  to  get  money  was  the  leading  motive  of  the 
corporation.  The  soil  and  sovereignty  of  their  American 
territory  had  been  sought  after  for  this  purpose.  When 
they  thought  that,  by  granting  land  to  colonists  in  private 
property,  their  own  gains  would  be  speedily  increased, 
they  granted  land  in  private  property ;  and  now,  when 
it  appeared  probable  that,  by  confirming  the  action  of  a 
popular  assembly,  the  colony  would  improve,  and  the 
gains  of  the  corporation  be  increased,  they  first  per 
mitted,  and  afterwards  established,  such  an  assembly ; 
for  in  A.  D.  1621,  they  gave  to  the  colony  a  written 
constitution,  which  became  the  model  of  a  similar  in 
strument  in  many  of  the  subsequent  colonies.  By  this 
constitution  the  corporation  were  to  appoint  a  governor 
and  council,  and  the  colonists  were  yearly  to  elect  mem 
bers  to  a  legislative  assembly.  The  members  of  the 
council  were  to  have  a  seat  in  the  legislative  assembly, 
where  all  laws  pertaining  to  the  colony  were  to  be  en 
acted,  the  governor  having  a  veto,  and  the  corporation 
in  England  reserving  to  themselves  a  negative  upon  the 
whole  legislation.  Notwithstanding  these  vetoes,  no  law 
or  ordinance  proposed  by  the  governor  or  corporation, 
was  to  affect  the  colony  till  it  had  passed  the  legislative 
assembly. 

Such  was  the  liberation  of  the  Virginia  colonists. 
When  this  liberal  constitution  was  granted,  the  work  of 
the  corporation  was  at  an  end.  They  had  expended  money 
and  treasure  in  the  commercial  speculation  of  planting  a 
colony;  and  gave  to  their  colonists  private  property 
and  political  privileges,  in  the  expectation  of  reaping  a 


96  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

more  abundant  harvest  in  return.  But  these  golden  an 
ticipations  were  never  realized.  The  colony  poured  no 
wealth  into  the  treasury  of  the  corporation.  That  body 
became  dissatisfied ;  it  attempted  a  few  acts  of  oppres 
sion  ;  it  quarrelled  with  the  king ;  became  odious  to  the 
public  ;  and  then,  like  other  actors  whose  business  in 
this  world  is  finished,  and  whose  decrepitudes  render 
dissolution  a  mercy,  it  received  intimations  that  its 
days  were  numbered.  Though  still  clinging  to  life,  it 
was  dissolved  by  King  James,  A.  D.  1624.  He  had 
made  it,  and  now  he  unmade  it,  and  entered  upon  its 
labours.  In  fact  the  crown  took  the  place  of  the  cor 
poration,  and  sustained  to  the  colony  the  same  relation 
which  had  been  held  by  that  body  ;  the  king  continuing 
to  appoint  the  governor  and  council,  and  the  colonists 
to  elect  their  legislative  assembly  in  pursuance  of  the 
constitution  derived  from  the  corporation.  The  crown 
deemed  it  most  prudent  to  confirm  to  the  colony  the 
popular  liberty  it  had  received  from  its  first  owners. 

The  troubles  of  Charles  I.  left  him  little  leisure  to 
torment  the  Virginians  ;  and  by  the  time  that  Cromwell 
had  run  his  race,  and  the  English  monarchy  was  re 
stored,  the  population  of  Virginia  had  so  increased  in 
number,  and  were  so  ardently  devoted  to  their  system  of 
colonial  legislation,  that  the  subsequent  British  sovereigns, 
down  to  George  III.,  generally  permitted  the  popular 
legislative  assembly  to  exercise  the  same  authority  which 
it  had  under  the  corporation.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
observe  farther  in  this  connexion,  that  the  Virginia  legis 
lature  were  in  a  continual  quarrel  with  the  governors 
sent  them  by  the  crown  through  the  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  that  preceded  the  American  Revolution. 
But,  through  all  that  time,  the  Virginians  jealously 
guarded  their  liberties,  and  generally  considered  them- 


COLONIZATION    BY    CORPORATIONS.  97 

selves  entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  Englishmen  ;  their  legis 
lative  assembly  being  their  parliament,  and  the  King  of 
England  their  king. 

We  have  been  the  more  minute  in  this  detail,  inas 
much  as  we  desired  to  present  a  clear  and  well  defined 
view  of  the  agency  of  a  corporation  in  planting  and 
giving  form  to  the  oldest  of  the  old  thirteen  colonies. 
Though  the  motives  of  the  corporation  centered  in  com 
mercial  gain,  yet  these  motives,  by  leading  to  the  es 
tablishment  of  private  property  and  political  privileges, 
contributed  directly  to  the  organization  of  a  democracy 
in  America.  By  coming  between  the  crown  and  the 
colonists,  the  corporation  granted  to  the  people  of  Vir 
ginia  more  liberty  than  was  consistent  with  the  arbitrary 
notions  of  the  Stuart  kings.  But  when  the  disappointed 
hopes  of  gain  were  about  to  bring  the  corporation  into 
conflict  with  its  colony,  and  perhaps  abridge  its  liberty, 
an  arbitrary  king  came  to  the  rescue,  dissolved  the  cor 
poration,  and  perpetuated  the  democracy  that  had  been 
formed  in  Virginia.  Could  any  plan  have  been  devised 
by  which,  under  the  existing  views  and  motives  of  men 
in  England,  a  more  democratic  result  could  have  been 
obtained  ? 

In  this  summary  analysis  of  the  doings  of  the  corpo 
ration,  our  attention  has  been  drawn  away  from  the  sin 
gular  fortunes  that  attended  the  colonists  themselves.  In 
regard  to  individual  character,  the  age  when  this  work 
of  colonization  began  was  a  singular  age.  The  world 
was  passing,  or  rather  had  passed,  from  the  contests  of 
chivalry  to  the  contests  of  interest ;  and  while  a  mammoth 
corporation  was  seeking  to  enrich  itself  from  the  New 
World,  the  individuals  employed  to  accomplish  its  de 
signs  were  many  of  them  men  of  the  most  chivalric  cha 
racter  and  Christian  wisdom.  To  introduce  one  of  these 


98  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

individuals  by  way  of  episode  may  reveal,  in  a  luminous 
view  the  character  of  the  men  by  whom  the  corporation 
for  Virginia  established  its  colony.  Such  an  individual 
izing  is  also  in  harmony  with  our  general  plan ;  for 
sometimes  a  man  appears  who  is  the  type  and  represen 
tative  of  a  whole  age,  and  in  whom  is  imbodied  in  con 
centrated  energy  the  spirit  that  moves  through  vast 
masses  of  men.  Such  a  man  becomes  truly  a  historical 
character.  Of  such  men  the  w  orld  has  seen  a  few ; 
England  had  her  Alfred,  Europe  her  Charlemagne, 
China  her  wTall-building  federalist  Chihoangti,  and  Vir 
ginia  her  Captain  Smith. 

Smith — John  Smith — Captain  John  Smith,  was  the 
pioneer  and  ruling  spirit  of  American  colonization.  By 
nature  a  gentleman,  by  profession  a  soldier,  and  by 
education  a  scholar,  he  imbibed  the  adventurous  spirit 
of  his  age.  An  Englishman  by  birth,  and  a  traveller 
by  choice,  he  sought  for  military  glory  in  the  armies  of 
Holland.  A  cavalier  in  spirit,  from  boyhood  a  lover  of 
adventure,  he  travelled  over  France  and  Italy,  and 
sought  for  fame  in  fighting  in  the  Hungarian  armies 
against  the  Turks.  Captured  in  war,  he  was  sold  for  a 
slave  in  the  market  of  Constantinople.  With  an  iron 
collar  on  his  neck,  and  a  flail  in  his  hand,  he  threshed 
wheat  for  his  Mahometan  lord  on  the  plains  of  Crim 
Tartary.  Cruelly  oppressed,  he  slew  his  master,  and 
fled,  like  Moses,  to  the  wilderness.  Wandering  over  the 
deserts  of  Russia,  he  regained  his  freedom,  and  again 
drew  his  sword  in  the  wars  on  the  northern  coast  of 
Africa.  Returning  to  England,  the  projected  colony  in 
Virginia  recalled  new  visions  to  his  ardent  spirit;  and  em 
barking  with  the  first  emigrants,  he  landed  with  them  in 
the  wilderness  on  James  River.  Acquainted  with  human 
nature  in  all  its  forms,  and  gifted  with  what  John  Locke 


COLONIZATION   BY    CORPORATIONS.  99 

calls  "  strong  sound  roundabout  common  sense,"  he  be 
came  the  main  pillar  in  the  rising  colony. 

The  emigrants  to  the  new  colony  were  hard  subjects 
to  deal  with ;  many  of  them  being  dissolute,  broken- 
down,  idle  vagabonds,  real  Botany-Bay  scape-graces, 
whom  the  corporation  had  bought  up  and  shipped  for 
America.  Thrown  among  such  gentry,  Smith  found 
use  for  all  his  talents  and  energies.  Upon  him  devolved 
the  task  of  "  coaxing  on  the  stubborn  ones  and  pushing 
on  the  lazy." 

"  When  you  send  again,"  he  wrote  to  the  corpo 
ration,  "  I  entreat  you  rather  send  but  thirty  carpen 
ters,  husbandmen,  gardeners,  fishermen,  blacksmiths, 
masons,  and  diggers-up  of  trees'  roots,  well  provided, 
than  a  thousand  of  such  as  we  have."  In  this  advice 
was  contained  the  main  truth  of  modern  political  eco 
nomy,  that  labour  is  the  true  source  of  wealth.  Me 
chanics  and  "  diggers-up  of  trees'  roots"  were  to  be  the 
real  colony  planters ;  this  truth,  plainly  perceived  by 
Smith,  laid  the  foundation  of  colonial  prosperity  in  North 
America.  A  mania  for  gold-digging  had  seized  upon 
the  colonists  ;  and  during  a  temporary  absence  of  Smith, 
they  left  off  planting  and  building,  and  spent  their  time 
in  shovelling  up  iron  pyrites  and  washing  it  for  gold. 
The  corporation  also  in  England  directed  him  to  seek 
for  a  passage  to  India  by  travelling  up  some  stream  that 
ran  from  the  northwest.  Deriding  alike  the  India  and 
gold  mania,  but  willing  to  travel,  he  ascended  the 
Chickahominy,  and  explored  the  country  to  the  Sus- 
quehanna ;  he  surveyed  the  waters  of  the  Chesapeake, 
ascended  the  Potomac,  and  was  the  first  Englishman 
who  trod  the  barren  lands  where  Washington  City  now 
stands.  Passing  from  the  Chesapeake  to  the  northern 
parts  of  the  territory  of  the  corporation,  he  visited  the 


100  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

harbour  of  Boston,  the  Merrimack  and  Piscataqua,  and 
gave  such  a  glowing  description  of  the  country,  that  the 
English  sovereign  conferred- upon  it  the  name  of  New 
England.  Returning  to  Virginia,  his  energy  and  good 
sense  healed  the  colonists  of  their  gold-delirium,  and 
directed  them  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  The  vene 
rable  trees  on  James  River  were  hewn  down ;  the  dig- 
gers-up  of  trees'  roots  arrived  from  England,  and  corn, 
tobacco,  and  wheat,  took  the  place  of  the  oak,  the 
hickory,  and  the  persimmon.  The  soil,  under  his  direc 
tion,  became  the  true  gold-mine  of  the  country,  and 
he  assured  his  employers,  the  corporation  in  England, 
with  the  most  profound  gravity,  that  the  Pacific  Ocean 
could  not  be  reached  by  sailing  up  the  James  River. 

An  accidental  explosion  of  gunpowder  inflicted  a 
wound  which  deprived  the  colony  of  his  guardianship. 
He  returned  to  England ;  and  the  hero  who  had  ex 
posed  his  head  to  the  war-club  of  Powhattan,  was  ne 
glected  by  his  employers.  The  father  of  American 
colonization  is  a  lasting  witness  that  corporations  are 
bodies  without  souls.  How  could  such  soulless  masters 
direct  the  destinies  of  democracy  in  the  New  World  ? 
It  was  impossible.  The  general  plan  of  Providence  no 
longer  required  the  action  of  such  a  body ;  their  mission 
to  North  America  was  fulfilled ;  and  the  London  com 
pany  was  accordingly  dissolved  in  A.  D.  1624. 

II.  The  second  attempt  by  foreign  corporations  to 
plant  colonies  in  America,  was  made  in  New  England. 
This  region,  you  will  remember,  was  included  in  the 
territory  granted  by  King  James  to  his  mastodon  corpo 
ration  ;  but  the  branch  of  that  corporation  whose  ope 
rations  were  to  be  confined  to  the  northern  part  of  the 
grant,  did  nothing.  The  London  company  alone  suc 
ceeded,  and  King  James  took  the  ground  that  the 


COLONIZATION    BY    CORPORATIONS.  101 

northern  part  of  this  grant  reverted  to  the  crown,  on  ac 
count  of  the  neglect  of  the  company,  whose  business  it 
was  to  plant  colonies  in  it.  He  accordingly,  in  A.  D. 
1620,  created  another  huge  corporation,- to  which  he 
transferred  the  soil  and  sovereignty  of  North  America 
lying  between  the  fortieth  and  forty,- eighth'  p#j#lleltf  /of  • 
latitude,  and  named  in  the  charter,  New  England.  This 
comprehensive  grant  included  all  the  country  from  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  the  southern  border  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  Such  were  the  limits 
of  New  England.  The  corporation  to  which  this  im 
mense  territory  was  given  was  known  as  the  Plymouth 
Company,  so  called  from  Plymouth  in  England.  But 
at  the  date  of  the  charter,  the  only  inhabitants  in  the 
territories  it  described,  were  Indians  and  wild  beasts. 
The  charter  directed,  in  substance,  that  the  Indians 
should  be  Christianized  and  the  wild  beasts  caught  for 
the  benefit  of  the  corporation.  All  the  bears,  deer, 
foxes,  beavers,  fish,  and  Indians,  were  transferred  to  the 
company,  to  be  used  for  their  benefit.  If  the  charter 
had  only  transferred  to  the  corporation  the  soil  and  land 
animals,  New  England  might  have  had  a  different  des 
tiny  ;  but  the  exclusive  right  to  catch  fish  in  the  rivers 
and  along  the  coast  of  New  England,  proved  the  ruin 
of  the  corporation.  The  House  of  Commons  opposed 
the  monopoly  of  fish.  The  king  resisted  their  inter 
ference,  on  the  ground  that  America  was  his  own  pro 
perty,  and.  not  subject  to  the  control  of  parliament.  A 
contest  ensued,  which  rendered  the  corporation  odious, 
and  paralyzed  all  its  energies ;  and  it  made  only  a  few 
expensive  but  fruitless  efforts  to  colonize  its  territories. 

But  it  was  not  by  corporations  that  the  roots  and 
brambles  on  the  Penobscot  and  Connecticut  were  to  be 
conjured  out  of  the  ground.  Other  influences  were  des- 


102  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

tined  to  plant  New  England.  The  despotic  power  of 
the  corporation  was  feared ;  and  so  many  obstructions 
were  thrown  in  its  way  by  the  commons  on  account  of 
the  exclusive^  ashing  privilege,  that  it  did  little  more 
than  grant  away  its.  lands  to  subordinate  companies  and 
individuate ;  b\cL  it  went  to  the  work  of  giving  away  its 
territory  with  profuse  liberality.  To  Mason  and  Gorges 
it  granted  Maine  ;  to  Rosewell  and  others  it  granted 
Massachusetts ;  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick  it  granted  Con 
necticut  and  Rhode  Island ;  to  Mason  it  granted  New 
Hampshire  ;  and  to  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  it  gave  a  place 
for  their  colony.  Having,  by  these  grants,  stript  itself  in 
the  space  of  eighteen  years  of  much  of  its  immense  ter 
ritory,  the  Plymouth  corporation  sank  into  a  lethargy, 
and  disappeared  from  the  world.  Its  charter  was  re 
voked  in  A.  D.  1639,  and  its  remaining  lands,  embracing 
the  regions  of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  New  York, 
and  the  country  \vest  of  them  to  the  Pacific,  reverted  to 
the  crown. 

So  far  as  any  effective  colonization  was  concerned, 
the  Plymouth  corporation  was  a  failure.  It  was  in  its 
origin  a  mercantile  company,  established  for  the  sake  of 
gain,  and  having  its  immense  territory  in  America  as 
the  place  of  its  operations.  New  England  was,  however, 
destined  to  be  the  theatre  of  a  colonization  springing 
from  other  influences  than  those  of  gain.  That  these 
influences  might  have  free  scope,  the  mercantile  com 
pany  distributed  its  lands,  and  conferred  rights  upon  the 
colonists  which  the  crown  wrould  not  have  granted.  Its 
work  was  then  done,  democracy  no  longer  needed  its 
agency,  and  it  was  laid  aside. 

III.  The  third  attempt  at  colonization  by  a  foreign 
corporation  was  made  by  the  Swedes  on  the  Delaware. 
Sweden  had  been  raised  by  the  talents  of  Gustavus 


COLONIZATION    BY    CORPORATIONS.  103 

Adolphus  to  the  first  rank  among  European  nations.  His 
superior  intellect  saw  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from 
commerce  ;  and  at  his  recommendation,  though  not  till 
after  his  fall  at  Lutzen,  a  commercial  company  was  in 
corporated  for  the  purpose  of  trading  westward  from  Eu 
rope,  and  planting  colonies  in  America.  About  the  year 
1638,  this  company  sent  a  band  of  colonists,  consisting 
of  Swedes  and  Fins,  who  entered  the  Delaware  bay. 
They  purchased  from  the  natives  the  soil  on  the  western 
side  of  that  river,  from  the  sea  to  the  falls  at  Trenton ; 
and  began  a  colony  named  New  Sweden.  This  terri 
tory  included  the  present  state  of  Delaware,  and  the 
south-eastern  counties  of  Pennsylvania.  The  principal 
settlements  of  the  Swedes  were  near  Newcastle  and  Phi 
ladelphia  ;  at  these  points  an  industrious  and  religious 
people  began  the  work  of  colonization.  Magnificent 
visions  had  floated  before  the  mind's  eye  of  the  great 
Swedish  Gustavus,  when  he  looked  from  the  battle-fields 
of  Europe,  to  a  Swedish  colony  in  America,  and  saw  in 
the  New  World  a  happy  and  truly  religious  people. 
Had  that  hero  been  spared,  New  Sweden  on  the  Dela 
ware  might  have  become  the  centre  of  a  wise  and  vir 
tuous  nation.  But  a  commercial  corporation  having  the 
destinies  of  the  colony  in  its  hands,  and  not  wishing  to 
defend  what  it  might  be  unprofitable  to  preserve,  per 
mitted  it  to  fall  into  other  hands.  In  A.  D.  1655,  about 
seventeen  years  from  its  foundation,  New  Sweden  was 
conquered  by  the  Dutch,  and  annexed  to  their  colony  of 
New  Netherlands. 

Here  ended  the  colonizing  efforts  of  another  corpo 
ration. 

IV.  The  fourth  attempt  at  colonization  by  a  foreign 
corporation,  was  made  in  the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  by 
the  Dutch  West  India  Company. 


104  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Sailing  in  the  employment  of  the  Hollanders,  Sir 
Henry  Hudson,  in  A.  D.  1610,  discovered  the  Delaware 
Bay  and  Hudson  river.  Not  being  able  to  reach  the 
East  Indies  by  the  North  River,  he  returned  to  Europe ; 
and  Holland,  by  virtue  of  his  discovery,  claimed  the 
country  drained  by  the  Hudson  and  Delaware,  a  terri 
tory  to  which  she  gave  the  name  of  New  Netherlands. 
In  a  short  time  a  few  adventurers  from  Amsterdam 
found  their  way  into  the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  and 
opened  a  traffic  with  the  natives;  but  Holland,  in  its 
national  capacity,  did  not  undertake  the  colonization  of 
this  North  American  discovery.  Her  maritime  opera 
tions,  though  very  extensive,  were  in  general  committed 
to  chartered  companies ;  and,  pursuant  to  this  corpo 
ration  system,  she  created,  in  A.  D.  1618,  a  Dutch 
West  India  Company,  to  which  she  gave,  among  privi 
leges,  the  exclusive  right,  so  far  as  she  could  give  it,  to 
plant  colonies  on  the  coast  of  America  from  Greenland 
to  Cape  Horn.  No  Hollander,  unless  by  permission  of 
this  corporation,  could  traffic  or  settle  along  this  exten 
sive  coast. 

To  this  company  was  committed  the  soil  and  sove 
reignty  of  the  New  Netherlands,  with  authority  to  plant 
colonies  and  govern  them.  Holland,  as  a  nation,  re 
served  no  control  over  the  colonists,  nor  did  she  under 
take  to  defend  them  against  foreign  enemies ;  they  were 
to  look  to  the  corporation  for  their  political  privileges 
and  protection. 

Like  other  commercial  corporations,  the  West  India 
Company  aimed  solely  at  gain,  and  more  particularly  at 
the  gain  to  be  acquired  by  depredations  on  the  South 
American  commerce  of  Spain,  the  nation  with  which 
Holland  was  then  waging  its  war  of  independence.  To 
plant  colonies  was  only  desirable  in  so  far  as  it  would 


COLONIZATION   BY    CORPORATIONS.  105 

enrich  the  corporation.  The  New  Netherlands  presented 
a  prospect  of  colonial  gain,  and  the  company  established 
colonies  on  the  Delaware  and  Hudson.  To  render 
them  productive,  it  was  necessary  to  have  them  well 
populated ;  and  to  induce  an  influx  of  population,  it  was 
necessary  to  present  motives  to  settle  the  territory.  Ac 
cordingly,  to  him  who  should  plant  a  colony  of  fifty 
persons,  the  company  offered  a  tract  of  land  sixteen  or 
twenty  miles  square,  of  which  he  should  be  the  owner 
and  governor  or  Patroon.  Many  settlements  were  made 
under  this  provision,  of  which  the  anti-rent  troubles  in 
New  York  are  the  fruits.  The  New  Netherlands  thus 
became  the  theatre  of  speculation,  and  plantations  were 
made  on  the  Delaware,  along  the  coast  of  New  Jersey, 
and  in  the  valley  of  the  Hudson. 

But  the  colonists,  the  real  workers,  "the  diggers-up 
of  trees'  roots,"  in  the  New  Netherlands,  had  neither 
property  in  the  soil  nor  political  privileges.  The  pa- 
troons  of  the  large  estates  were  the  owners  of  the  soil, 
and  the  company  had  the  government  of  the  colony  in 
its  own  hands ;  it  enacted  the  laws,  appointed  the  go 
vernors,  and  gathered  a  tolerable  harvest  of  profit ;  but 
the  people,  the  mass — what  mass  there  was — had  no 
thing  to  do  with  the  government.  Such  an  arrange 
ment  was  not  consistent  with  the  creation  or  growth  of 
democratic  government;  and  the  institutions  of  Eu 
rope,  in  the  most  intense  forms  of  their  servility,  seemed 
on  the  eve  of  being  transplanted  to  America,  and  firmly 
rooted  in  the  rich  valley  of  the  Hudson. 

Many  of  the  governors  sent  by  the  company  were, 
it  is  true,  excellent  men,  among  whom  we  find  the 
good-hearted  Walter  Van  Twiller,  and  the  worthy  Stuy- 
vesant.  But  something  more  than  good  governors  was 
needed  to  make  a  democratic  government.  The  cor- 


106  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

poration  had  brought  colonists  to  the  country ;  and 
when  that  work  was  accomplished,  the  connexion  of  the 
company  with  the  colony  was  ready  to  be  dissolved. 
But  that  their  dissolution  might  promote  the  cause  of 
free  government,  it  was  necessary  that  some  preliminary 
measures  should  prepare  the  way  and  put  the  colonists 
in  a  condition  to  profit  by  a  change  of  masters.  Ac 
cordingly,  throughout  the  New  Netherlands  an  attempt 
was  made  to  establish  a  popular  assembly  similar  to  the 
one  which  had  been  established  in  Virginia.  Deputies 
from  each  village  in  the  colony  assembled,  and  desired 
to  obtain  a  share  in  the  government ;  but  Stuyvesant, 
who  then  held  the  reins,  had  not  the  wisdom  of  Yeard- 
ley,  the  mild  and  patriotic  governor,  by  whose  con 
nivance  Virginia  became  a  popular  government.  He 
obstinately  resisted  the  movement  of  the  people,  and  in 
formed  them  that  his  authority  to  rule  the  New  Nether 
lands  was  derived  "from  God  and  the  West  India 
Company,  and  not  from  a  few  ignorant  subjects."  His 
conduct  was  approved  by  his  employers. 

This  was  the  critical  hour  of  free  government.  Had 
Stuyvesant  granted  the  request  of  the  colonists — had  the 
West  India  Company  acted  with  the  prudence  of  the 
London  Company — the  New  Netherlands  might  long 
have  continued  under  the  control  of  a  corporation.  But 
this  arrangement  might  have  stood  in  the  way  of  the  ul 
timate  liberation  and  union  of  the  American  colonies. 
Holland,  in  the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  would  have  sepa 
rated  New  England  from  the  south.  Happily  Stuyvesant 
was  not  Yeardley.  When  he  informed  the  colonists  that 
the  source  of  his  authority  was  God  and  the  West  In 
dia  Company,  the  people  replied  in  substance,  that  God 
had  conferred  upon  them  also  certain  rights,  which  they 
intended  to  maintain.  This  lesson  they  had  been  taught 


COLONIZATION    BY    CORPORATIONS.  107 

in  part  by  their  Puritan  neighbours,  and,  in  part,  by  the 
innate  democratic  nature  of  man,  which  in  America  has 
always  been  gifted  with  a  voice. 

After  the  refusal  to  admit  the  people  to  a  share  in  the 
government,  the  colonists  became  desirous  to  free  them 
selves  from  the  dominion  of  the  corporation ;  and  lent 
a  willing  ear  to  propositions  from  the  English  to  subject 
themselves  to  England,  on  condition  that  they  should  be 
admitted  to  a  share  in  the  management  of  the  colonial  go 
vernment.  The  democracies  of  New  England  were  too 
alluring  to  permit  a  neighbouring  nation  to  remain  the 
boors  and  serfs  of  a  foreign  corporation. 

While  the  New  Netherlands  were  internally  in  this 
state  of  agitation,  they  were  exposed  to  encroachments 
on  the  north  and  on  the  south.  Massachusetts  and  Con 
necticut  were,  by  their  charters,  permitted  to  extend  west 
ward  to  the  Pacific ;  but  if  these  states  extended  west 
ward  to  the  Pacific,  where  would  the  New  Netherlands 
be?  On  this  subject  quarrels  arose  between  the  New 
England  colonies  and  the  West  India  Company.  Eng 
land  was  at  peace  with  Holland ;  but  to  strike  a  blow  at 
a  powerful  commercial  rival,  English  ships  of  war  were 
despatched  to  the  Hudson.  The  colonists  of  the  New 
Netherlands  refused  to  risk  life  in  the  contest.  They 
desired  to  make  no  sacrifices  for  the  benefit  of  their  mas 
ters,  the  West  India  Company,  and  that  company  was 
unable  to  protect  them.  To  the  corporation  the  New 
Netherlands  were  merely  property ;  and  upon  an  esti 
mate  of  the  cost  of  defence,  the  company  resolved  to 
preserve  what  they  could  by  negotiation,  and  lose  the 
rest.  The  New  Netherlands  accordingly  surrendered  to 
the  English,  upon  condition  that  the  colonists  should  have 
their  private  property  confirmed  to  them,  and  be  per 
mitted  to  have  a  representative  assembly  similar  to  that 


108  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

of  Virginia.  The  English  king  accordingly  took  the 
place  of  the  West  India  Company  in  A.  D.  1664,  and 
the  colonists  obtained  the  privilege  of  freemen. 

Such  was  the  office  performed  by  a  foreign  corpora 
tion  in  the  colonization  of  the  valleys  of  the  Hudson  and 
Delaware.  Ridicule  has  been  directed  against  the  Dutch 
governors  and  the  early  settlers  of  this  region.  But  there 
were  most  worthy  and  patriotic  men  among  them  ;  and, 
under  a  better  system  of  colonial  government,  they  would 
have  been  esteemed  the  worthy  fathers  of  arising  nation. 
Liberty  among  the  masses  of  men  was,  however,  un 
known  in  Holland.  That  republic  was  a  republic  of 
nobles  and  commercial  cities,  and  not  a  republic  whose 
liberties  extended  to  the  "  diggers-up  of  trees'  roots." 
The  enslaved  class,  the  boors  of  Holland,  were,  how 
ever,  the  men  most  useful  among  the  trees  and  saplings 
and  bushes  of  the  New  World.  But  when  they  came 
to  the  Hudson  they  were  still  enslaved,  and  only  gained 
the  first  state  of  freedom  when  the  colony  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  English, — a  transfer  in  which  the  colo 
nists  gladly  acquiesced. 

V.  The  last  attempt  at  colonization  by  a  foreign  cor 
poration  was  made  in  Georgia.  This  attempt  I  mention 
here  by  way  of  contrast  with  those  already  enumerated. 
The  corporations  which  attempted  to  colonize  Virginia, 
New  England,  and  the  New  Netherlands,  were  com 
mercial  companies,  whose  end  was  gain,  and  whose 
means  were  colonies.  But  the  corporation  which  com 
menced  Georgia  originated  in  charity,  and  was  designed 
to  perform  a  work  of  protection  and  benevolence.  It 
was  in  A.  D.  1732  that  George  II.  chartered  a  company 
to  plant  a  colony  between  the  Savannah  and  Altamaha 
rivers.  At  the  head  of  this  corporation  stood  the  hu 
mane  and  sagacious  Oglethorpe.  The  wTork  to  be  per- 


COLONIZATION   BY   CORPORATIONS.  109 

formed  by  this  corporation  was  a  work  of  defence,  inas 
much  as  it  was  the  design  of  the  English  monarch  to 
plant  a  colony  which  would  be  a  protection  on  the  south 
west  to  the  other  American  plantations :  it  was  also  a 
\vork  of  charity,  inasmuch  as  it  was  the  design  of  Ogle- 
thorpe  and  his  companions  to  remove  to  the  colony  the 
impoverished  debtors  who  were  languishing  in  the  jails 
of  England.  The  members  of  the  corporation  were  in 
reality  trustees  for  this  charitable  purpose.  But,  like  the 
commercial  corporations,  the  company  for  Georgia  were 
the  legislators  and  governors  of  the  colony:  the  colo 
nists  themselves  were  to  have  no  voice  in  making  their 
laws,  or  in  executing  them.  How  would  such  a  project 
harmonize  with  the  general  plan  of  establishing  a  de 
mocracy  in  America  ?  The  facts  that  accompanied  the 
work  of  Oglethorpe  in  Georgia  answer  the  question. 

Oglethorpe  was  appointed  governor  of  the  colony, 
and  accompanied  the  emigrants  to  their  new  home  ;  but 
he  was  soon  called  upon,  like  his  great  prototype  of  Vir 
ginia,  to  exert  himself  in  "coaxing  on  the  stubborn  ones 
and  pushing  on  the  lazy."  The  sweepings  of  English 
prisons  made  indifferent  colonists  ;  and,  in  order  to  min 
gle  them  with  characters  of  a  more  elevated  nature,  in 
vitations  were  given,  and  inducements  held  out  to  the 
adventurous  spirits  of  Europe,  to  make  their  home  in 
the  rising  colony  of  Georgia.  In  consequence  of  these 
invitations,  other  colonists  arrived.  From  Germany 
came  Moravians,  under  the  patronage  of  their  leader, 
the  worthy  Count  Zinzendorf,  and  settled  on  the  Sa 
vannah  ;  from  England  came  Methodists,  headed  by 
Wesley  and  Whitefield  ;  and  from  Scotland  came  High 
landers,  with  their  plaids,  their  targets,  and  their  broad 
swords,  and  settled  on  the  Altamaha.  Silk,  corn,  and 
rice,  were  grown  on  the  sea-coasts,  and  along  the  valleys 
K 


110  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

of  Georgia ;  and  Oglethorpe  became  the  guardian  and 
father  of  the  colony,  fought  the  Indians  on  the  west, 
the  Spaniards  on  the  south,  prohibited  the  introduction 
of  negro  slaves,  and  maintained  comparative  harmony 
among  the  discordant  materials  under  his  charge. 

Notwithstanding  these  favourable  auspices,  the  co 
lony  languished.  Oglethorpe  returned  to  England.  The 
colonists  were  turbulent  and  dissatisfied.  The  corpora 
tion  grew  careless  of  the  trust  committed  to  it.  Its 
work  was  done  when  it  had  planted  and  fostered  a  seed 
ling  for  democracy ;  and  in  A.  D.  1752,  wearied  with 
its  profitless,  thankless  task,  it  surrendered  its  charter, 
and  the  crown  took  its  place  in  the  government  of  the 
colony.  The  colonists,  upon  the  change,  were  admitted 
to  a  share  in  the  government ;  and  by  a  legislative  as 
sembly  enacted  their  laws,  with  the  approbation  of  a  go 
vernor  appointed  by  the  king. 

We  have  now  reviewed  the  several  attempts  at  colo 
nization  in  America  which  were  made  by  foreign  corpo 
rations.  The  successive  failure  of  each  of  these  attempts 
intimates  very  significantly,  that  the  establishment  of 
democracy  in  America  required  the  speedy  abrogation 
of  the  government  of  corporations.  I  say  that  demo 
cracy  required  the  speedy  abrogation  of  such  govern 
ment;  for  in  order  to  establish  a  prosperous  republic 
in  America,  it  was  necessary  to  have  prosperous  colonies 
of  which  it  should  be  composed,  and  in  which  men 
might  be  drilled  and  schooled  in  self-government.  But 
the  government  of  a  mercantile  corporation  is  adverse 
to  colonial  prosperity,  and  does  not  admit  a  large 
amount  of  liberty  to  the  colonists.  It  is,  perhaps,  the 
wrorst  of  all  colonial  governments ;  has  the  least  sym 
pathy  with  its  subjects ;  and  is  in  general  the  most  hos 
tile  to  the  interests  and  democratic  notions  of  the  people. 


COLONIZATION   BY   CORPORATIONS.  Ill 

When  we  allege  these  objections  against  the  domi 
nion  of  corporations,  we  must  not  be  understood  as  as 
serting  that  they  have  always  in  all  their  forms  and  phases 
been  hostile,  and  are  in  their  nature  hostile,  to  popular 
government.  The  contrary  has  often  occurred.  In  the 
march  of  the  European  race  from  isolated  barbarism  to 
their  present  civilization,  corporations  were  agencies  of 
efficient  and  essential  service  to  liberty.  In  the  middle 
age  of  European  history,  the  merchants  and  tradesmen 
of  a  town,  by  uniting  in  a  corporation,  could  resist  the 
rapacity  of  barbarous  chiefs.  When  nations  began  to  be 
formed  in  Europe,  the  kings,  by  incorporating  towns, 
raised  up  a  power  to  balance  the  turbulent  nobility.  In 
these  cases  corporations  served  the  cause  of  good  go 
vernment  ;  they  aided  to  bring  up  the  popular  masses ; 
they  introduced  the  third  estate — the  commons — into 
the  legislature ;  and  what  little  participation  the  people 
had  in  the  government  they  derived  through  corpora 
tions.  So  far  they  were  promotive  of  democracy. 

But  there  was  another  class,  called  commercial  cor 
porations,  which  had  an  opposite  influence.  Wlien 
commerce  winged  her  way  over  the  oceans,  and  re 
vealed  the  riches  of  distant  countries,  commercial  opera 
tions  were  committed  to  chartered  companies.  In  Swe 
den,  in  France,  in  England,  in  Holland,  and  in  other 
countries,  corporations  were  created  and  clothed  with 
authority  to  enjoy  the  soil  and  sovereignty  of  distant  re 
gions,  to  colonize  them,  to  traffic  to  them,  and  to  make 
gain  from  them.  East  India  Companies,  West  India 
Companies,  South  Sea  Companies,  and  many  others  of 
all  grades  and  powers,  attempted  to  monopolize  the 
commerce  of  the  world,  and,  as  subservient  to  this  end, 
to  colonize  vast  territories.  Such  corporations  have  an 
influence  adverse  to  the  democracy  of  their  colonies. 


112  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

The  hope  of  gain  being  the  ruling  principle — the  sun  in 
the  heaven  of  the  corporate  system — the  rights  of  the 
colonists,  both  civil  and  political,  are  estimated  in  gold 
and  silver.  If  by  respecting  these  rights  more  gain  can 
be  probably  made,  they  will  be  respected.  This  oc 
curred  in  Virginia,  when  the  London  company  gave  that 
colony  a  liberal  and  written  constitution.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  the  corporation  believes  that  by  unconditional 
servitude  its  colony  will  yield  the  most  profit,  uncondi 
tional  servitude  will  be  imposed,  and  maintained  if  pos 
sible.  This  occurred  in  the  New  Netherlands  when 
Stuyvesant  repelled  the  request  of  the  people  to  be  ad 
mitted  to  a  share  in  the  colonial  government,  by  inform 
ing  them  that  he  derived  his  authority  from  God  and  the 
West  India  Company.  The  same  event  has  occurred  in 
Hindostan,  where  the  British  East  India  Company  has 
established  an  absolute  authority  over  one  hundred  mil 
lions  of  subjects,  who  serve  the  purpose  of  colonists. 

From  these  considerations  you  will  scarcely  hesitate 
to  conclude,  that  the  establishment  of  republicanism  in 
America  required,  among  other  preliminaries,  that  the 
colonies  should  enjoy  freedom  from  the  government  of 
such  companies.  We  accordingly  find  that  foreign  cor 
porations  failed  in  all  their  attempts  to  establish  and  go 
vern  colonies  in  North  America.  The  long  continuance 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  which  has  already  lived 
through  nearly  two  centuries,  is  not  an  exception  to  this 
assertion ;  for  that  is  a  trading,  and  not  a  colonizing 
corporation. 

Such  were  the  events  connected  with  the  attempts 
made  by  foreign  corporations  to  plant  and  govern  colo 
nies  in  America.  Do  not  these  events  exhibit  a  pros 
pective  reference  to  a  future  republic  ?  Were  they  not 


COLONIZATION   BY   CORPORATIONS.  113 

contrivances,  means,  agencies,  expedients,  all  adapted 
and  providentially  designed  and  directed  to  establish 
popular  government  ?  Such  an  end,  such  a  design,  ac 
counts  for  these  events.  No  other  does. 

We  will,  in  the  next  lecture,  resume  the  consider 
ation  of  the  other  attempts  at  American  colonization. 


LECTURE  IV. 
FEUDAL  COLONIZATION. 

Attempts  at  American  Colonization  by  feudal  nobles — I.  First  of 
these  attempts  in  Maryland — Plan  of  Calvert:  liberty  of  conscience 
and  political  privileges  —  Results  of  his  attempt  —  II.  Attempt  at 
feudal  colonization  in  New  Jersey  and  New  York ;  its  failure — III. 
Attempt  at  feudal  colonization  in  Pennsylvania;  its  character — Be 
comes  merged  in  democracy — Penn,  and  his  plan  for  a  colony — 
IV.  Attempt  at  feudal  colonization  in  the  Carolinae ;  its  results — 
Locke's  constitutions — Character  and  results  of  all  these  attempts — 
Attempts  of  the  English  sovereigns  to  put  themselves  at  the  head 
of  American  colonization — The  two  ideas  which  were  the  cause  of 
these  royal  attempts:  I.  Inalienable  sovereignty;  II.  Perpetual 
allegiance — These  ideas  unsuited  to  the. condition  of  affairs  in  the 
colonies — Successfully  resisted  by  the  colonists — Failure  of  the  royal 
attempts  to  control  the  colonies. 

IN  our  last  lecture  we  examined  the  attempts  at  colo 
nization  in  North  America  which  were  made  by  foreign 
corporations,  and  exhibited  these  attempts  in  their  pros 
pective  reference  to  the  organization  of  our  republic. 
We  now  come  to  the  other  efforts  which  were  made  to 
colonize  America,  and  it  remains  to  examine  them  in 
their  relations  to  democratic  government.  The  next  of 
these  efforts  was  connected  with  the  feudal  system,  and 
in  regard  to  them  we  have  the  general  statement,  as  fol 
lows  :  second, 

FEUDAL  NOBLES  TRIED  TO  PLANT  AND  GOVERN  COLONIES  IN 
NORTH  AMERICA. 

By  feudal  nobles,  in  this  connexion,  I  wish  to  desig 
nate  those  individuals  whose  American  possessions  were 
in  the  nature  of  feudal  principalities.  Some  of  these 


FEUDAL    COLONIZATION.  115 

individuals,  as  Calvert  and  Carteret,  enjoyed  noble  titles 
in  Europe  ;  and  others  of  them,  as  William  Penn,  were 
in  reality  feudal  nobles  by  virtue  of  their  American  ter 
ritories.  To  give  a  passing  idea  of  the  usual  connexion 
between  a  feudal  prince  and  his  people,  we  may  remark 
that  in  the  middle  age  of  European  history,  the  landed 
possessions  of  a  chief  constituted  a  little  kingdom  or 
principality,  over  which  he  ruled.  The  tenants  of  his 
lands  were  his  subjects,  and  from  their  labours  and  rents 
he  derived  his  revenue.  For  them  he  established  his 
courts  or  legal  tribunals,  made  laws,  appointed  judges, 
and,  in  a  word,  embraced,  in  his  single  person,  the 
legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  branches  of  govern 
ment.  Such  a  chief  was  frequently  and  usually  bound 
to  some  kind  of  obedience  and  service  to  another  and 
higher  chief,  and  that  higher  chief  to  another  still  more 
powerful.  But  over  the  tenants — "the  diggers- up  of 
trees'  roots," — in  his  territory,  each  chief  was  a  king, 
or  rather  acted  the  part  of  a  king  towards  them ;  and 
they  obtained  from  him  such  rights  and  privileges  as 
his  weakness  or  humanity  induced  him  to  yield,  or  as 
their  power  could  enforce.  This  subordination  of  one 
chief  to  another  constituted  the  feudal  system  ;  and  this 
sovereignty  of  a  chief  over  his  principality,  while  he 
owed  service  or  obedience  to  another  chief,  constituted 
a  feudal  noble. 

Such  a  system  of  authority  and  dependence  would 
seem  to  have  little  sympathy  or  community  of  feeling 
and  interest  with  popular  institutions  ;  nor  is  it  very  ap 
parent  in  what  manner  such  a  system  could  be  pressed 
into  the  service  of  republicanism.  Feudal  nobles  did, 
however,  attempt  to  establish  colonies  in  North  Ame 
rica,  and  endeavoured  to  fashion  them  after  the  model 
and  similitude  of  feudal  principalities.  But  the  work,  in 


116  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

several  cases,  fell  into  the  hands  of  men  who  were  im 
bued  with  an  excellent  spirit,  as  were  Penn  and  Lord 
Baltimore,  and  whose  willingness  to  promote  the  welfare 
of  the  human  race,  and  other  circumstances  of  great  in 
fluence,  very  materially  modified  the  feudalism  that  was 
imported  to  the  New  World.  So  much  was  it  modified 
that  it  lost  its  distinctive  European  form,  and  in  its  new 
home  speedily  yielded  its  position  and  its  works  to  the 
growing  power  of  democracy.  Let  us  examine  a  little 
into  the  attempts  at  feudal  colonization  in  America,  and 
we  will  then  perceive  how  they  became  subservient  to 
republicanism. 

I.  The  first  of  these  attempts  was  made  in  the  colo 
nization  of  Maryland.  By  the  dissolution  of  the  Lon 
don  company  in  A.  D.  1624,  the  English  crown  became 
reinvested  with  its  original  title  to  the  territory  which  it 
had  granted  to  the  corporation  for  colonizing  Virginia. 
Out  of  this  region  King  Charles  in  A.  D.  1632  granted 
to  Sir  George  Calvert,  Lord  Baltimore,  the  country  be 
tween  .the  Potomac  and  the  fortieth  parallel  of  latitude ; 
a  region  which  received  the  name  Maryland  in  honour 
of  Henrietta  Maria,  the  English  queen.  To  erect  a 
principality  and  become  its  feudal  lord,  was  the  political 
part  of  Calvert's  design  in  procuring  the  grant ;  and,  in 
accordance  with  this  object,  the  charter  conveyed  to  him 
the  soil  and  sovereignty  of  the  territory,  and  gave  him 
the  nominal  place  of  lord  of  the  domain.  The  yearly 
rent  of  two  Indian  arrows  was  the  service  by  which  the 
Prince  of  Maryland  acknowledged  the  sovereignty  of 
the  English  king.  Except  this  badge  of  obedience, 
Maryland  was  an  independent  principality,  and  Calvert 
its  owner  and  sovereign,  whose  authority  extended  to 
carve  out  manors  and  inferior  principalities  within  his 
territories,  and  to  establish  chiefs  or  nobles  subordinate 


FEUDAL   COLONIZATION.  117 

to  himself.  But  beside  the  political  part  of  his  design, 
Calvert  had  another  and  a  higher  object  in  planting  the 
colony  of  Maryland.  He  looked  abroad  upon  the  con 
dition  of  the  world ;  saw  the  privations  of  his  fellow- 
men,  and  their  earnest  yearnings  for  religious  and  po 
litical  liberty,  and  resolved  to  establish  a  government 
where  these  noble  desires  could  be  gratified.  This  re 
solution  materially  modified  the  feudalism  of  his  Ame 
rican  principality,  and  liberty  of  conscience  and  political 
privileges — those  two  leading  elements  of  our  republican 
system — were  secured  to  the  colonists  of  Maryland.  A 
word  upon  each  of  these  provisions  will  show  that  the 
plan  of  Lord  Baltimore,  though  it  contemplated  a  feudal 
colony,  contained,  nevertheless,  the  living  seeds  and 
very  core  of  democratic  government. 

(1.)  The  first  of  the  provisions  just  named,  which 
Calvert  introduced  in  his  plan  of  the  Maryland  colony, 
viz.,  liberty  of  conscience  in  religion,  was  a  new  and, 
in  those  days,  most  extraordinary  regulation  to  introduce 
into  a  government.  I  call  it  new,  because  no  such  cha 
rity,  or,  rather,  no  such  wisdom  and  justice  had  before 
his  time  been  exercised  in  Christendom.  It  was  reserved 
for  Sir  George  Calvert,  who  was  in  religion  a  Catholic, 
and  at  heart  a  lover  of  mankind,  to  insert  in  the  charter 
of  a  projected  government,  a  provision  that  no  man  pro 
fessing  Christianity  should  be  molested  for  his  sectarian 
preferences.  Christianity  was  established  as  the  religion 
of  the  colony,  but  Catholics  and  Protestants  of  all  de 
nominations  were  left  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  re 
ligious  faith.  We  give  to  Calvert  the  credit  of  an 
nouncing  to  the  world  this  plan  of  toleration ;  for  it  was 
by  him  that  the  charter  for  Maryland  was  drawn  up. 
The  provision  itself  was  also  an  extraordinary  regula 
tion  in  those  times.  To  appreciate  it  according  to  its 


118  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

merits,  we  must  draw  our  attention  away  from  the  tole 
rant  opinions  of  the  present  day,  and  enter  into  the 
feelings  and  religious  views  of  the  men  who  lived  in  the 
times  of  James  I.  In  that  "lang  syne"  time,  now  two 
centuries  and  a  quarter  past,  political  ideas,  and  the 
whole  current  of  religious  thought,  which  had  come  down 
through  many  generations,  were  directed  to  an  exclusive 
sectarianism  in  Christianity.  That  age  was  most  strin 
gently  sectarian  in  regard  to  the  religion  of  the  state. 
At  the  very  time,  too,  when  Calvert  was  planning  for 
his  American  principality  an  equality  of  all  Christian 
denominations,  the  continent  of  Europe  was  covered  by 
the  surges  and  foam  of  the  Thirty  Years'  religious  war ; 
and,  in  the  same  year  in  which  his  charter  was  dated 
(1632),  Gustavus  Adolphus,  the  hero  of  the  Protestant 
world,  perished  in  the  hour  of  his  glorious  victory  over 
the  armies  of  the  Catholic  league.  Was  it  not  an 
extraordinary  movement  in  such  an  age,  and  at  such 
a  juncture,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  religious  liberty  ? 
Yet,  this  was  the  movement  which  Calvert  made  in  be 
half  of  his  projected  colony  of  Maryland.  Had  he  done 
no  more  for  mankind  than  give  prominence  to  the 
single  idea  of  a  tolerant  Christian  state,  he  would  have 
merited  the  gratitude  of  our  republic.  For  our  govern 
ment  has  established  in  substantial,  practical,  glorious 
reality,  w^hat  he  projected  for  his  own  territory. 

(2.)  The  second  provision  which  modified  the  feudal 
character  of  Maryland,  was  the  establishment  of  a  repre 
sentative  legislature.  I  have  just  mentioned  that  the 
tenants  on  the  land  of  a  feudal  lord  frequently  obtained 
from  their  master  certain  rights  and  privileges,  which 
were  exacted  either  by  their  power  or  flowed  from  his 
generosity.  These  privileges  often  extended  to  a  con 
siderable  share  in  the  administration  of  the  government 


>f         FEUDAL    COLONIZATION.  119 

of  their  lord  :  such  as  voting  money  for  his  use ;  giving 
their  assent  to  the  changes  which  he  proposed,  &c.  In 
the  projected  colony  of  Maryland  a  similar  liberality  ap 
peared,  and,  though  it  was  feudal  in  form,  the  privileges 
of  the  inhabitants  were  recognised  with  much  precision  ; 
for  Calvert  had  defined  in  his  charter  the  limits  of  his 
authority,  and  the  rights  of  the  colonists.  No  tax  was 
to  be  imposed  without  their  consent,  and  no  law  made 
without  their  approbation  :  in  a  word,  the  colonists  were 
to  be  admitted  to  a  liberal  share  in  the  government. 
When  the  government  was  organized,  Lord  Baltimore, 
or  his  deputy,  was  governor;  a  council  of  colonists, 
summoned  by  special  invitation  of  the  governor,  formed 
an  upper  house,  and  representatives  elected  by  the  peo 
ple  formed  a  lower  house  of  legislation ;  bills  were 
passed  by  the  two  houses,  and  when  sanctioned  by  the 
governor  became  the  law  of  the  colony.  These  demo 
cratic  provisions  rendered  the  charter  of  Maryland  dear 
to  the  inhabitants ;  they  were  proposed  by  Calvert — 
they  came  not  from  the  rising  spirit  of  oppressed  feudal 
slaves,  but  flowed  from  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  a 
man  who  delighted  to  see  mankind  enjoy  their  ardent 
and  generous  desires. 

These  two  provisions,  viz.,  liberty  of  conscience  and 
a  representative  assembly,  were  most  material  modifica 
tions  of  the  feudalism  of  the  colony.  They  were,  in 
fact,  the  corner-stones  of  our  republic,  the  powerful  sup 
port  of  the  whole  fabric.  Maryland,  it  is  true,  became 
in  some  features  a  feudal  principality ;  the  civil  offices 
were  in  the  gift  of  Lord  Baltimore ;  in  his  name  the 
laws  were  executed,  and  justice  administered ;  he  was 
the  prince  and  hereditary  governor  of  the  colony ;  but 
the  liberty  of  conscience  and  the  popular  assembly  were 
democratic  elements  which  absorbed  the  feudalism,  and 


120  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

prepared  the  colonists  for  the  full  enjoyment  of  repub 
licanism. 

Calvert  himself  was  not  permitted  to  enter  into  this 
land  of  promise  and  hope.  He  died  before  an  emigrant 
reached  his  new  principality ;  and  his  titles,  possessions, 
the  colony  of  Maryland,  and  a  portion  of  his  spirit,  de 
scended  to  his  son.  The  inheritor  of  the  estates  and 
virtues  of  the  father,  by  a  long  life  of  wisdom  and  per 
severance  extending  over  forty  years,  firmly  established 
the  colony. 

But  the  sunshine  of  peace  did  not  continue  without 
interruption  upon  the  rising  province.  Difficulties  fre 
quently  occurred.  The  crown  for  a  time  usurped  the 
government  of  the  colony  ;  but  with  a  few  interruptions 
Maryland  preserved  its  democratic  elements  down  to 
the  Revolution.  Through  all  this  tract  of  time,  the  peo 
ple  of  that  colony  were  reducing  to  practice  the  first 
lessons  of  republicanism  which  had  been  taught  them  by 
the  founder  of  the  colony.  They  sometimes  attempted 
to  dispense  with  their  feudal  lord,  but  the  time  for  abso 
lute  freedom  had  not  yet  arrived.  The  feudal  element 
of  a  hereditary  prince,  therefore,  continued  to  co-operate 
with  the  democratic  element  of  a  legislative  assembly. 

We  do  not  say  that  this  attempt  at  feudal  coloniza 
tion  was  a  failure ;  but  the  features  of  the  colony  were 
so  modified,  that  feudalism  was  lost  in  republicanism. 
Democracy  availed  itself  of  the  benevolence  of  Calvert, 
and  while  it  lived  in  the  freshness  of  its  own  youthful 
vigour,  it  paid  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  worthy  and 
excellent  founder  of  Maryland,  and  left  a  few  of  the 
harmless  forms  of  a  feudal  principality  remain  on  the 
shores  of  the  Chesapeake. 

II.  The  second  attempt  at  feudal  colonization  to 
which  I  would  call  your  attention,  was  made  in  the  New 


FEUDAL   COLONIZATION.  121 

Netherlands,  or  in  that  tract  of  country  which  contains 
the  present  states  of  New  Jersey  and  New  York.  When 
this  extensive  province,  which  embraced  the  valleys  of 
the  Hudson  and  Delaware,  was  taken  from  Holland,  it 
was  transferred  by  the  English  king  to  the  Duke  of  York. 
This  prince,  who  figures  in  English  history  as  the  tyran 
nical  and  fugitive  James  II.,  was  authorized  by  the  royal 
grant  to  hold  and  govern  this  territory  as  a  feudal  prin 
cipality.  Reserving  to  himself  the  present  state  of  New 
York,  he  granted  to  two  noblemen,  Carteret  and  Berke 
ley,  that  portion  of  this  possession  which  now  composes 
the  state  of  New  Jersey.  The  New  Netherlands  were 
thus  divided,  but  each  division  was  subjected  to  a  similar 
kind  of  authority,  and  attempts  were  made  to  colonize 
and  govern  them  as  feudal  principalities.  Let  us  look 
a  little  into  the  success  and  results  of  these  attempts, 
beginning  with  New  Jersey. 

The  hope  of  gain,  combined  with  the  pride  of  territo 
rial  sovereignty,  induced  the  proprietors  of  New  Jersey 
to  make  vigorous  exertions  to  bring  inhabitants  into  their 
projected  colony.  Knowing  the  allurements  of  popular 
government,  they  gave  to  their  province  a  very  liberal 
constitution.  The  two  democratic  provisions  established 
in  Maryland  reappeared  in  Jersey — all  Christian  sects 
had  full  liberty  of  conscience,  and  a  house  of  represent 
atives  was  provided,  in  which  the  colonists  were  ad 
mitted  to  a  share  in  the  government.  The  policy  of  these 
provisions  soon  became  manifest;  for  immediately  it 
was  whispered  abroad  in  the  world  that  the  Quaker, 
the  Puritan,  and  the  Republican,  could  enjoy  in  New 
Jersey  their  rights  of  conscience  and  their  theory  of  go 
vernment  ;  and  emigrants  came,  hoping  to  obtain  the 
benefit  of  these  privileges.  Puritans  came  from  New 
England,  Quakers  from  Old  England,  Calvinists  from 

L 


122  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Holland,  and  Republicans  from  Scotland  ;  the  sea-coast 
and  valleys  of  New  Jersey  soon  teemed  with  a  numerous 
population  ;  and  for  a  time  all  things  went  on  prosper 
ously. 

By-and-by,  however,  Berkeley  and  Carteret  began  to 
exhibit  the  feudal  side  of  the  charter.  They  sent  to 
collect  the  rents  which  they  had  reserved  in  transferring 
lands  to  individuals  in  private  property.  But  in  this 
they  were  flatly  refused ;  for  the  colonists  had  come  to 
enjoy  liberty,  not  to  pay  rents.  A  series  of  contentions 
arose  between  the  proprietors  and  their  tenants ;  and  it 
was  soon  found  that  there  were  strong  anti-renters  in 
those  days  as  well  as  in  these.  Democracy  in  govern 
ment  and  toleration  in  religion  had,  in  the  meantime, 
taken  deep  root  in  the  minds  of  the  adventurous  men 
who  came  to  be  the  "  diggers-up  of  trees'  roots"  in 
New  Jersey.  Various  and  unavailing  expedients  were 
resorted  to  by  the  proprietors  to  preserve  their  authority 
and  collect  their  revenue.  They  divided  the  province, 
and  formed  an  East  Jersey  and  a  West  Jersey ;  but  still 
they  could  not  maintain  their  authority.  They  sold  their 
rights  of  soil  and  sovereignty  to  well-meaning,  honest 
Quakers ;  but  neither  could  these  doers  of  justice  and 
lovers  of  peace  maintain  their  feudal  sovereignty  over 
the  sturdy  yeomen  of  their  territories.  There  was  only 
one  condition  upon  which  the  people  would  be  con 
tented:  and  that  was  the  condition  of  full  liberty  to 
manage  their  own  affairs  in  their  own  way.  They  con 
tended  against  all  forms  of  restriction  from  external  au 
thority,  and  particularly  against  the  feudal  rights  which 
were  asserted  over  them. 

At  last,  wearied  with  the  fruitless  quarrel,  the  pro 
prietors  of  New  Jersey  transferred  their  rights  of  sove 
reignty  to  the  English  crown ;  and  Queen  Anne,  who 


FEUDAL   COLONIZATION.  123 

then  swayed  the  English  sceptre,  united  the  Jerseys  into 
one  colony,  and  it  became  a  royal  province.  In  this 
political  condition  it  received  a  governor  and  council 
from  England,  who,  in  conjunction  with  a  legislative 
body  elected  by  the  people,  made  the  laws  and  admi 
nistered  the  government. 

In  this  attempt  at  feudal  colonization,  the  emigrants 
to  New  Jersey  exhibited  a  more  refractory  spirit  than 
had  been  manifested  in  Maryland.  The  attempt,  how 
ever,  developed  the  elements  of  popular  government, 
and  exhibited  the  democratic  ideas  which  governed  the 
conduct  of  the  colonists. 

In  New  York,  matters  took  a  position  apparently  less 
favourable  to  liberty.  That  province  was  reserved  for 
twenty  years  in  feudal  subjection  to  its  lord  proprietor, 
the  Duke  of  York.  Promises  of  political  privileges  had 
been  made  to  the  colonists  to  induce  them  to  shake  off 
the  yoke  of  their  masters,  the  Dutch  West  India  Com 
pany,  and  place  themselves  under  the  protection  of 
England.  But  when  the  valley  of  the  Hudson  was  set 
apart  for  a  feudal  principality,  these  promises  were  for 
gotten,  and  the  province  continued  under  the  slavery  of 
an  arbitrary  lord.  No  representatives  of  the  people  \vere 
admitted  to  a  share  in  the  government;  the  governor 
of  the  Duke  of  York,  and  his  council,  were  lawgivers 
and  judges,  and  constituted  the  entire  government  of 
the  province.  When  the  people  demanded  a  legislative 
assembly  chosen  by  themselves,  their  feudal  lord  stated 
divers  objections  to  such  bodies ;  among  which  was  the 
short  and  very  intelligible  one,  that  «  he  could  see  no 
use  for  them." 

Events  in  another  quarter  of  the  world,  however, 
prepared  the  way  for  admitting  the  colonists  of  New 
York  to  a  share  in  their  government.  A  change  of  dy- 


124  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

nasty  was  effected  in  England :  the  Duke  of  York  had 
ascended  the  English  throne ;  and,  after  overthrowing 
many  of  the  liberal  institutions  of  his  country  because 
"  he  could  see  no  use  for  them,"  he  provoked  an  op 
position  which  precipitated  him  from  power  and  chased 
him  from  his  kingdom.  When  that  revolution  was  com 
pleted,  his  province  in  America  renounced  his  sove 
reignty,  and  proclaimed  the  new  English  king,  William 
III.;  the  crown  took  the  government  of  New  York, 
and  the  feudal  principality  became  a  royal  province. 
The  consequences  of  the  change  were,  that  New  York 
obtained  a  house  of  representatives,  and  her  colonists 
were  instructed  practically  in  the  same  democratic  school 
which  had  been  established  in  the  other  colonies. 

III.  The  third  attempt  at  feudal  colonization  in  Ame 
rica  was  undertaken  in  Pennsylvania.  The  eastern  part 
of  this  province  had  been  included  in  the  New  Nether 
lands,  and  consequently  was  embraced  in  the  principality 
of  the  Duke  of  York ;  but  by  purchase  from  him  and  by 
charter  from  Charles  II.,  William  Penn  in  A.  D.  1682 
acquired  the  soil  and  sovereignty  of  the  province  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  proceeded  to  erect  it  into  a  princi 
pality. 

As  the  attempt  at  feudal  organization  was  here  made 
by  the  best  of  men,  the  origin  and  fortunes  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  in  its  colonial  life,  exhibited  all  that  feudalism 
could  do  for  liberty.  In  Pennsylvania,  as  in  Virginia 
and  Maryland,  the  life  and  character  of  one  individual 
was  a  luminous  commentary  upon  the  colonial  history. 
Instead  of  going  into  the  more  dry  details  of  colonial 
organization  to  show  what  feudalism  did  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  let  us  arrive  at  the  same  result  in  another  way. 
Let  us  look  at  the  plan  of  the  colony  in  connexion  with 
the  life  and  character  of  its  founder ;  let  us  go  behind 


FEUDAL    COLONIZATION.  125 

the  curtain ;  let  us  see  the  secret  springs  which  moved 
the  actors ;  and  we  can  then  form  a  correct  estimate  of 
what  feudalism  did  accomplish  and  was  capable  of  ac 
complishing  in  the  organization  of  our  republic. 

William  Penn  gave  a  province  to  our  nation,  and 
gained  a  reputation  as  enduring  as  our  republic.  At 
tached  to  the  Society  of  Friends,  he  embraced  their 
doctrines  with  an  ardour  and  an  intelligence  which  have 
seldom  been  surpassed.  Educated  at  an  English  uni 
versity,  he  became  acquainted  with  the  political  system 
of  Europe  ;  and  wishing  to  study  humanity  in  its  actual 
developements,  he  travelled  abroad.  Desirous  of  making 
converts  to  the  creed  of  his  sect,  he  preached  and 
taught  the  people  in  Holland  and  along  the  Rhine.  Be 
lieving  that  God  is  to  be  loved  because  he  is  God,  and 
virtue  to  be  practised  because  it  is  virtue,  he  abhorred 
all  laws  forcing  men  to  believe  a  particular  creed.  Ac 
knowledging,  with  the  founder  of  his  sect,  that  God  in 
the  soul  is  the  standard  of  truth,  he  maintained  the  doc 
trine  that  the  human  race  have  equal  rights.  Asserting 
that,  in  private  virtue  and  public  conduct,  men  are  di 
rected  by  a  divine  illumination,  he  proclaimed  freedom 
as  the  birthright  of  his  race.  In  his  creed,  freedom  was 
an  essential  element  of  man's  nature :  without  it,  men 
cease  to  be  men.  These  doctrines,  the  product  of 
thinking  minds,  have  circulated  from  Penn  and  Barclay 
through  the  philosophies  of  Europe.  Those  humble 
Quakers  struck  out  forms  of  thought  which  have  been 
the  model  and  the  marrow  of  the  most  intellectualized 
systems  of  modern  times. 

These  elemental  truths  were  the  basis  not  only  of  the 
religious,  but  also  of  the  political  system  of  Penn.  From 
the  relationship  of  man  to  the  Creator  ;  from  the  divinity 
that  is  within  us,  he  arrived  at  the  political  creed  which 


126  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

teaches  man's  right  to  share  in  his  own  government. 
From  the  divine  illumination  of  man  he  reasoned  out 
the  utter  unrighteousness  of  religious  intolerance.  He 
believed  in  man's  capacity  to  enjoy  and  exercise  re 
ligious  rights,  political  rights,  and  civil  rights.  In  a 
word,  he  had  faith  in  humanity ;  and  adopted  the  Pro 
testantism  of  politics,  which  teaches  that  man  can  go 
vern  himself,  and  of  right  ought  to  govern  himself,  in 
dependently  of  the  hereditary  claims  of  kings,  and  of 
their  pretended  divine  right. 

Despairing  of  realizing  in  Europe  his  glorious  visions 
of  the  freedom  of  the  human  race,  he  turned  his  eyes  to 
the  wilderness  of  America.  Attached  to  a  sect  that  was 
persecuted  by  a  licentious  court,  he  sought  for  a  region 
of  the  Western  World,  where  religion  should  be  free  from 
the  bulls  of  an  established  church,  and  government  ex 
empt  from  the  curse  of  a  corrupt  monarch.  His  pur 
chase  and  charter  made  him  the  owner  or  proprietor  of 
the  region  west  of  the  Delaware  river,  contained  in  the 
present  states  of  Delaware  and  Pennsylvania.  In  1682, 
he  came  to  his  wilderness  territory. 

But  what  kind  of  a  government  would  this  man  of 
liberty  and  peace  erect  ?  How  could  he  be  feudal  lord 
and  his  tenants  freemen  ?  His  actions  in  the  New  World 
harmonized  with  his  previous  character,  and  show  that 
he  was  disposed  to  respect  the  rights  of  all  men.  From 
the  Indians  he  purchased  their  claim  to  the  soil,  and  laid 
the  foundation  of  his  province  in  justice ;  the  counties 
composing  the  present  state  of  Delaware  were  erected 
into  a  government ;  Philadelphia  was  laid  out,  and  the 
organization  of  Pennsylvania  was  commenced. 

True  to  his  religious  creed  and  political  faith,  he  es 
tablished  a  most  liberal  form  of  government,  and  his 
faith  in  humanity  caused  him  to  leave  the  colonists  much 


FEUDAL    COLONIZATION.  127 

to  their  own  direction.  His  provisions  for  his  projected 
colony  were  such  as  the  following : 

Full  toleration  was  provided  for  all  Christian  denomi 
nations  : 

A  legislature,  consisting  of  a  council  and  house  of 
representatives,  was  to  be  chosen  annually  by  the  colo 
nists  : 

The  subordinate  officers  of  the  government  were  to 
be  elected  by  the  people. 

These  were  purely  democratic  provisions  ;  but  there 
was  one  anti-republican  feature :  the  office  of  governor 
was  hereditary  in  the  family  of  Penn.  By  this  he  was  a 
feudal  lord,  and  the  province  was  his  principality.  This 
could  not  well  be  otherwise ;  for,  if  he  had  laid  down 
that  office,  if  he  had  abandoned  the  head  of  the  govern 
ment,  his  principality  would  have  reverted  to  the  king, 
and  Pennsylvania  would  have  become  a  royal  province. 
Feudal  law,  as  then  understood  in  Europe,  would  have 
required  such  a  reversion ;  but  it  was  more  desirable 
that  Penn  should  remain  the  aristocratic  head  of  his 
principality,  and  he  did  remain.  The  feudal  element 
was  here  again  placed  beside  the  democratic  element, 
and  the  latter  prevailed. 

This  very  democratic  constitution  of  Pennsylvania 
conferred  upon  the  colonists  more  real  freedom  than  was 
.to  be  found  anywhere  else  in  the  world.  Liberty  of 
conscience  and  political  privileges  rendered  Pennsyl 
vania  an  asylum  for  the  oppressed  of  all  creeds  and  of  all 
politics  ;  and  emigrants  gathered  into  the  province,  where 
the  persecuted  of  every  sect  and  the  fugitives  of  every 
faction  which  disturbed  the  Old  World,  blessed  the  high- 
minded,  calm,  and  benevolent  Quaker  who  had  provided 
them  a  refuge.  Was  there  in  this  liberal  organization 
no  adaptation,  no  fitness,  no  reference,  to  our  prospective 


128  ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

republic  ?  Or  did  not  this  colony  rather  become  a  nur 
sery  of  democracy?  Suppose  the  elements  of  human 
nature  and  the  state  of  the  world,  as  it  was  two  cen 
turies  and  a  half  ago,  had  been  shown  to  the  most  acute 
political  speculator,  and  suppose  the  question  had  been 
asked  him,  "  How,  from  these  materials,  would  you  orga 
nize  in  North  America  a  democratic  government,"  what 
answer  would  he  probably  have  made?  Without  a 
suggestion  of  the  means  wrhich  have  actually  been  em 
ployed,  he  might  have  replied,  «  The  project  is  impos 
sible."  Suppose,  however,  he  had  penetrated  a  little 
into  the  future,  and  had  seen  the  father  of  Pennsylvania 
landing  his  colony  on  the  Delaware,  and  had  seen  the 
same  good  man  stripping  old  feudalism  of  its  priestly 
and  kingly  robes,  and  putting  them  upon  young  demo 
cracy  :  suppose,  I  say,  he  had  seen  the  benevolent 
Quaker  doing  all  this,  would  he  not  have  considered  the 
problem  of  an  American  republic  as  already  resolved  ? 
would  he  not  have  pointed  to  such  colonies  as  the 
agencies  or  materials  out  of  which  a  great  nation  of 
freemen  might  be  readily  constructed  ? 

From  the  description  we  have  given  of  the  demo 
cratic  features  which  characterized  Penn's  colony,  it 
might  be  supposed  that  the  colonists  were  perfectly 
satisfied  with  their  government.  In  fact,  however,  the 
contrary  occurred.  Difficulties  appeared,  whose  roots 
were  nourished  in  the  decaying  rubbish  of  the  imported 
feudalism.  Penn  was  the  proprietor,  and  the  office  of 
governor  belonged  to  him  and  was  hereditary  in  his  fa 
mily  ;  here  was  a  feudal  element ;  a  lordly  power  en 
tirely  at  war  with  the  democratic  elements  of  the  province. 
From  these  heterogeneous  elements  sprang  a  long,  bitter, 
never-ceasing  quarrel,  which  ran  through  nearly  a  whole 
century  of  Pennsylvania  history,  and  only  terminated 


FEUDAL   COLONIZATION.  129 

-with  the  American  Revolution.  The  governors  of  the 
proprietor  quarrelled  with  the  legislature,  and  the  legis 
lature  with  the  governors  ;  their  interests  were  different, 
their  powers  sprang  from  different  sources,  and  they 
could  not  and  did  not  harmonize ;  and  the  last  feeble 
feudal  element  was  destined  to  fall  before  the  progressive 
movement  of  popular  government. 

The  proprietor  of  Pennsylvania  did,  however,  a  great 
service  to  the  cause  of  liberty.  His  biography  is  an 
abiding  monument  of  a  good  man ;  but  his  attempt  to 
subject  popular  institutions  to  the  guardianship  of  feudal 
sovereignty  was  a  failure.  The  popular  institutions  wrere 
created,  but  the  authority  of  the  proprietor  could  not 
be  maintained.  His  descendants,  it  is  true,  retained  a 
nominal  supervision  of  the  colony ;  but,  when  the  Re 
volution  was  preparing  to  sweep  away  the  relics  of  aris 
tocratic  institutions  in  the  New  World,  the  feudal  su 
premacy  of  the  proprietor  of  Pennsylvania  was  a  name 
which  a  legislative  act  blotted  out. 

IV.  The  last  attempt  at  feudal  colonization  in  Ame 
rica  to  which  I  will  direct  your  attention,  was  made  in 
Carolina.  In  A.  D.  1665,  Charles  II.  granted  to  eight 
of  his  favourites  the  country  in  North  America  between 
the  thirty-sixth  and  twenty-ninth  parallels  of  latitude, 
and  extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  This 
vast  territory,  named  Carolina,  and  reaching  from  Vir 
ginia  to  Florida,  was  transferred  in  soil  and  sovereignty 
to  these  proprietors ;  and  authority  was  given  to  them  to 
colonize  it,  and  govern  it  as  they  might  desire.  It  was 
their  wish  and  intention  to  erect  this  American  pos 
session  into  a  feudal  empire  ;  and  they  accordingly  un 
dertook  to  devise  a  form  of  government  which  would 
secure  this  end. 

The  celebrated  Earl  of  Shaftsbury,  one  of  the  eight 


130  ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

proprietors,  called  to  his  aid  the  English  philosopher, 
John  Locke  ;  and  the  courtier  and  metaphysician  planned 
for  Carolina  a  constitution  of  a  very  peculiar  structure. 
Believing  neither  in  innate  ideas  nor  in  innate  principles, 
Locke  rummaged  the  records  of  past  generations,  and 
devised  a  form  of  government  which  gave  promise  of 
securing  to  the  proprietors  absolute  authority.  Imitating 
the  feudal  models  of  Europe,  the  lawgivers  provided  that 
the  territory  should  be  divided  into  counties,  baronies, 
and  manors,  and  be  portioned  out  among  nobles  with 
names  "  to  match."  The  charter  from  the  king  permitted 
the  creation  of  a  Carolina  nobility,  with  the  restriction, 
however,  that  the  English  titles  should  not  be  appro 
priated  to  them.  The  Indians  had  caciques,  the  Ger 
mans  had  landgraves,  and  the  charter  made  mention  of 
proprietors ;  these  were  titles  unknown  to  English  he 
raldry  ;  and  grades  of  nobility  under  the  names  of  pro 
prietors,  landgraves,  and  caciques,  were  accordingly  de 
vised  for  the  principality  of  Carolina.  The  East  Indies 
also  furnished  the  idea,  not  of  transmigration,  but  of 
castes :  and  castes  were  provided  for  in  the  constitution. 
Professions  and  wealth  were  to  be  hereditary ;  a  tenant 
was  to  be  always  a  tenant :  he  was  to  be  a  fixture,  an 
oak-stump,  a  thing  attached  to  the  soil ;  and  his  children 
after  him,  to  all  generations,  were  to  be  similar  stumps. 
All  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  power  was  given 
to  the  nobility ;  and  the  people,  the  tenants,  "  the  dig 
gers- up  of  trees'  roots,"  were  to  have  no  substantial 
part  in  the  administration  of  the  government. 

Such  was,  in  substance,  the  project  by  which  the 
feudal  forms  and  institutions  were  to  be  transferred  to 
Carolina.  But  could  it  be  expected  that  a  colony  in 
America  would  prosper  under  such  a  political  system  ? 
The  projected  organization  contained  absurdities  which 


FEUDAL   COLONIZATION.  131 

had  long  been  fought  against  in  Europe,  and  experience 
soon  demonstrated  its  inapplicability  to  Carolina. 

The  province  into  which  this  mimicry  of  feudalism 
was  to  be  introduced  was  not,  at  the  date  of  the  charter, 
entirely  without  inhabitants.  Adventurers  from  Virginia, 
from  New  England,  and  from  the  West  Indies,  had  es 
tablished  a  settlement  on  the  sea-coast,  in  the  region 
which  is  now  North  Carolina ;  and,  assuming  the  right 
of  self-government,  they  had  enacted  laws  for  their  co 
lony. 

In  A.  D.  1670,  the  philosophical  constitution  of  the 
proprietors  in  England  was  perfected,  and  shipped  for 
North  America.  But  the  hardy  emigrant  among  the  pines 
and  Indians  sneered  when  told  that  he  was  become 
a  subject  in  a  feudal  principality.  "  Better,"  said  he, 
as  he  dangled  his  bearskin  cap,  and  listened  to  the  phi 
losophic  rigmarole,  "  better  have  log-choppers  and  root- 
diggers  here  than  caciques  and  landgraves."  The  at 
tempt,  however,  was  made  to  subject  the  colony  already 
formed  to  the  government  of  the  proprietors. 

At  the  same  time  a  new  colony  was  planted  by  the 
proprietors  in  the  part  now  known  as  South  Carolina. 
Emigrants  were  brought  by  them  to  the  Ashley  river ; 
Charleston  was  founded;  and  the  proprietors  looked 
with  hope  upon  their  rising  principality.  They  liberally 
expended  money  in  the  enterprise,  and  believed  that  the 
seed  they  were  sowing  in  the  wilderness  wrould  yield 
them  a  bountiful  harvest.  But  when  they  attempted  to 
establish  their  feudal  constitution,  they  were  opposed 
with  a  determined  resistance.  The  northern  colony  and 
the  southern  colony  were  separated  by  a  wilderness  of 
three  hundred  miles;  but  they  both  resisted,  with  the 
energy  of  freemen,  the  government  proposed  by  the  pro 
prietors.  A  long  contest  ensued,  in  both  the  settlements, 


132  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

between  the  inhabitants  and  their  sovereigns.  Good 
governors  and  bad  governors  were  sent  from  the  pro 
prietors,  and  received  the  same  reception  from  the  colo 
nists  ;  all  being  resisted.  Sothel,  in  the  northern  set 
tlement,  oppressed  the  colonists,  and  cheated  the  pro 
prietors  who  had  sent  him  to  govern  in  their  name ; 
while  Colleton,  in  the  south,  was  perhaps  a  better  man ; 
but,  governing  with  the  rank  of  landgrave,  he  became 
a  tyrant,  and  was  chased  from  the  country.  The  pro 
prietors  abrogated  their  feudal  constitution,  re-established 
it,  altered  it,  amended  it,  modified  it,  and  metamorphosed 
it  in  every  possible  manner,  and  yet  it  always  received 
the  same  determined  opposition  in  both  colonies.  The 
inhabitants  were  as  blind  to  its  worth  as  James  II.  had 
been  to  the  liberal  institutions  of  his  country ;  they 
"  could  see  no  use  for  it."  They  did  not  wish  for  land 
graves  or  caciques  under  any  name  or  from  any  source ; 
they  had  gone  to  the  wilderness  to  enjoy  liberty,  and 
they  did  enjoy  it. 

Wearied  with  their  unavailing  efforts  to  force  or  coax 
the  colonists  into  subjection,  the  proprietors  in  A.  D. 
1729  abandoned  their  enterprise,  and  retransferred  their 
immense  territory  to  the  crown.  When  their  work  was 
done,  and  they  ceased  to  torment  the  inhabitants,  the 
king  assumed  the  government ;  the  northern  colony  was 
separated  from  the  southern,  and  thus  North  and  South 
Carolina  came  into  being. 

This  was  the  last  effort  at  feudal  colonization  in  North 
America.  Its  failure  demonstrated  that  the  worn-out  and 
decaying  institutions  of  Europe  were  inapplicable  to  the 
New  World,  and  could  not  be  perpetuated  there.  It 
also  made  known  that  the  American  colonies  had  a  des 
tiny  different  from  subjection  to  a  feudal  lord. 

We  have  thus  given  a  hasty  review  of  the  attempts 


FEUDAL   COLONIZATION.  133 

at  feudal  colonization  in  America.  These  attempts,  you 
perceive,  were  made  in  Maryland,  in  New  Jersey,  in 
New  York,  in  Pennsylvania,  in  Delaware,  and  in  the 
Carolinas.  In  these  colonies  the  feudal  or  aristocratic 
element  was  brought  into  the  presence  of  the  demo 
cratic  element.  The  best  of  men  and  the  worst  of  men 
here  tried  to  put  themselves  at  the  head  of  affairs ;  and 
in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  were  exhibited,  in  bold 
relief,  the  grandest  structures  wrhich  feudal  colonization 
could  erect.  In  these  provinces  the  feudal  lords  wTere 
mere  schoolmasters,  who  taught  the  people  how  to  be 
free.  When  the  lesson  was  given  and  reduced  to  prac 
tice,  the  mission  of  the  teacher  was  at  an  end. 

In  Carolina  and  New  York  the  process  was  different ; 
but  the  result  the  same  as  in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland. 
In  Carolina  and  New  York  feudal  lords,  instead  of  being 
teachers,  tried  to  become  masters  ;  they  endeavoured  to 
be  over  the  people,  not  of  them  ;  they  spurned  the  hum 
ble  office  of  leading  the  colonists  to  liberty ;  they  drove 
them  to  it.  If  Penn  and  Lord  Baltimore,  having  faith 
in  humanity,  made  political  privileges  the  basis  of  their 
colonial  government,  the  people  took  what  was  offered, 
and  asked  for  more.  If,  on  the  contrary,  the  Duke  of 
York  and  the  proprietors  of  Carolina  could  see  no  use 
for  popular  assemblies,  the  people  could  see  no  use  for 
feudal  lords ;  and,  while  the  feudal  lords  were  in  Eu 
rope,  the  people  were  on  the  soil,  and  busy  in  the  wTork 
of  republicanism.  Hence,  one  result  was  common  to 
all  the  feudal  colonies :  namely,  the  people  obtained  the 
ascendency,  and  learned  to  govern  themselves. 

When  the  projectors  of  these  colonies  desired  to  es 
tablish  manors  and  baronial  castles,  and  govern  in  North 
America  as  European  nobles  governed  their  principalities, 
the  people  resisted.  A  more  ultimate  result,  the  organi- 
M 


134  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

zation  of  our  republic,  required  that  the  colonists  should 
acquire  skill  and  confidence  in  taking  care  of  themselves. 
They  needed  practice ;  they  needed  to  be  tried  in  a 
variety  of  circumstances ;  and  the  essays  at  feudal  colo 
nization  put  several  colonies  in  a  position  to  practise 
self-government. 

Were  not  these  attempts  at  feudal  colonization  pros 
pective  contrivances  ?  Were  they  not  agencies,  means, 
arrangements  which  pointed  forward  in  time  to  those 
grander  results,  which  began  to  be  announced  to  the 
world  at  Bunker  Hill  ? 

We  pass  on  to  another  series  of  efforts  to  gain  the 
ascendency  in  colonization :  third, 

KINGS  ATTEMPTED  TO  PUT  THEMSELVES  AT  THE  HEAD  OF 
AMERICAN  COLONIES. 

Foreign  corporations  and  feudal  nobles  expended 
money  in  leading  emigrants  to  the  New  World  ;  but  the 
English  sovereigns  kept  their  treasure,  and  endeavoured 
to  get  colonies  in  another  way.  They  rather  imitated 
the  eagle  in  his  unroyal  habit  of  depriving  the  fish-hawk 
of  its  fish:  they  looked  patiently  on  till  others  had 
formed  colonies,  and  then  attempted  to  get  possession 
of  them.  Corporations  risked  money,  nobles  risked  re 
putation,  and  private  individuals  risked  life  in  planting 
colonies  in  America;  but  when  they  had  built  log- 
cabins,  grubbed  up  roots,  and  sowed  the  seed,  kings 
tried  to  reap  the  harvest ;  and  the  English  sovereign, 
from  time  to  time,  attempted  to  become  the  head  of  the 
several  American  colonies.  Let  us  examine  a  little  into 
the  process  of  these  attempts ;  their  motives,  their  re 
sults,  and  their  connexion  with  the  organization  of  our 
republic. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  saying  that  the 


ROYAL   COLONIZATION.  135 

English  kings  were  always  wrong  in  their  interference 
with  American  colonization.  We  merely  say  that  in 
that  colonization  kings  were  not  the  leaders,  the  money- 
payers,  the  men  through  whom  the  work  was  accom 
plished  ;  but  when  adventurers  came  to  this  Western 
World,  and  laid  the  foundations,  then  kings  tried  to 
ouild.  We  have  seen  an  exemplification  of  this  asser 
tion  in  the  transactions  connected  with  the  origin  of 
Virginia.  In  A.  D.  1624,  King  James  dissolved  the 
corporation  whose  exertions  originated  that  colony,  and 
changed  it  into  a  royal  province.  By  this  change  he 
became  the  king,  or  head  of  that  colony,  and  exercised 
his  authority  through  a  governor  of  his  own  appoint 
ment.  His  son,  King  Charles  I.,  made  an  attempt  to 
obtain  a  similar  authority  over  New  England.  His  trou 
bles  at  home,  however,  recalled  his  attention  from  Ame 
rica,  and  left  the  colonies  to  take  care  of  themselves. 
James  II.,  with  his  exalted  notions  of  royalty,  endea 
voured  to  reduce  all  the  colonies  to  his  own  arbitrary 
rule,  and  to  govern  them  as  appendages  to  his  crown. 
Charters  granted  to  them  by  his  predecessors  were  ab 
rogated  by  him ;  and  he  actually  united  into  a  single 
province  all  the  region  from  the  Delaware  to  the  St. 
Lawrence,  including  the  Jerseys,  New  York,  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire,  and  Massachu 
setts.  To  this  province  the  name  New  England  was 
given,  and  Andros,  a  name  famous  in  colonial  history, 
was  sent  to  govern  it.  Similar  designs  were  meditated 
with  respect  to  the  southern  colonies ;  but  the  English 
Revolution  of  A.  D.  1688  deprived  James  of  his  throne, 
and  his  kingdom  of  New  England  was  redivided  into 
its  separate  provinces. 

Similar  attempts  were  made  by  William  III.  to  seize 
colonies  planted  by  others.     He  deprived  Penn  of  his 


136  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

government  of  Pennsylvania,  and  tried  to  convert  it 
into  a  royal  province ;  he  took  possession  of  Maryland 
in  disregard  of  the  rights  of  the  proprietor,  and  go 
verned  it  by  a  deputy  of  his  own  appointment.  Penn 
sylvania  was  in  a  few  years  restored  to  its  owner,  the 
Quakers  being  found  a  peaceable,  but  most  impracticable 
people ;  but  Maryland  remained  during  a  whole  gene 
ration  under  royal  tutelage.  Massachusetts,  on  the  con 
trary,  received  from  William  in  A.  D.  1691  a  charter 
which  gave  to  the  colonists  of  that  province  a  large 
share  in  the  management  of  their  government;  it  re 
mained,  however,  so  far  in  subjection  to  the  crown  as 
to  receive  a  royal  governor.  The  same  sovereign,  by 
contract  with  the  proprietors,  obtained  the  government 
of  New  Jersey  in  A.  D.  1702. 

In  the  reign  of  subsequent  kings  the  Carolinas  and 
Georgia  also  became  royal  provinces.  Thus,  seven  of 
the  thirteen  colonies  came  into  the  possession  of  the 
English  sovereign ;  and  kings,  who  had  borne  neither 
the  labour  nor  the  expense  of  planting  colonies,  at 
tempted  to  reap  upon  the  ground  sown  by  others. 

What  were  the  reasons  or  inducements  which  sent 
the  English  kings  so  repeatedly  to  seize  upon  the  colo 
nies,  and  dispossess  the  people,  the  corporations,  and 
the  proprietors  of  their  rights  of  government  ?  To  those 
who  believe  kings  to  be  necessarily  tyrants,  this  question 
will  appear  superfluous ;  but  those  who  are  inclined  to 
trace  political  conduct  up  to  its  motives  in  the  mind  of 
the  actors,  will  find  that  the  English  kings,  in  their  con 
nexion  with  the  American  colonies,  acted  mainly  from 
two  prominent  ideas. 

I.  The  first  of  these  ideas  was,  that  the  soil  and 
sovereignty  of  America  belonged  inalienably  to  the  king, 
and  was  not  and  could  not  be  by  any  grant  or  charter 


ROYAL    COLONIZATION.  137 

transferred  from  him.  Inalienable  sovereignty  was  an 
elemental  idea  of  the  feudal  system ;  and,  though  the 
English  kings  gave  to  corporations  and  proprietors,  and 
others,  charters  purporting  to  transfer  the  sovereignty,  or 
right  of  government,  yet  there  remained  to  the  king  that 
ultimate  sovereignty,  that  feudal  supremacy,  that  para 
mount  authority,  which  was  not  and  could  not  be  trans 
ferred.  Acting  upon  this  theory,  King  James  derided 
the  pretensions  of  parliament  when  that  body  interfered 
to  control  the  colony  of  Virginia.  He  claimed  that  North 
America  belonged  to  the  crown — that  it  was  his  own, 
and  that  parliament  had  no  right  to  intermeddle  with  his 
American  possessions.  His  successors  believed  the  same 
creed.  The  king  thus  being,  as  he  supposed,  the  feudal 
lord  of  North  America,  reserved  to  himself  in  his  grants 
the  ultimate  sovereignty,  the  feudal  supremacy  over  the 
colonies. 

II.  Closely  connected  with  this  idea  was  another, 
which  was  also  drawn  from  the  depths  of  the  feudal  sys 
tem  :  namely,  that  no  English  subject  could  divest  him 
self  of  his  allegiance,  or  cease  to  be  an  English  subject. 
Allegiance  was  a  duty  which  every  Englishman  owed  to 
his  sovereign,  and  to  which  he  was  bound  by  an  oath, 
either  taken  or  supposed  to  be  taken.  The  obligation 
of  this  oath  never  ceased.  An  Englishman  might  go 
to  the  East  Indies,  or  to  Africa,  or  to  the  South  Sea 
Islands,  or  to  China,  but  wherever  he  went  he  was  still 
an  English  subject,  and  owed  allegiance  to  his  sovereign. 
Once  a  subject,  he  was  always  a  subject.  His  allegi 
ance,  like  the  marriage  relation,  ceased  only  with  life. 
Hence,  when  Englishmen  came  to  America  they  still 
owed  allegiance  to  their  liege  lord,  his  majesty  in  Eng 
land.  They  continued  to  be  his  men.  The  colonies 


138  ORIGIN    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

they  established  were  merely  new  homes,  where  they 
lived  the  same  subjects  that  they  had  been  in  England. 
We  have  then  these  two  elemental  ideas :  first,  that 
the  sovereignty  of  America  belonged  inalienably  to  the 
king ;  second,  that  emigrants  to  America,  like  all  other 
English  subjects  everywhere,  owed  him  perpetual  alle 
giance.  These  two  ideas  had  a  very  extensive  influ 
ence  in  originating  and  directing  the  conduct  of  the 
English  sovereigns  towards  the  American  colonies.  Did 
the  colonists  attempt  to  make  their  own  laws  and  govern 
themselves,  the  English  monarch  interposed  to  preserve 
his  sovereignty.  Did  the  colonists  refuse  to  contribute 
to  the  royal  revenue,  the  king  was  alarmed  lest  they 
should  renounce  their  allegiance.  Did  they  attempt  to 
traffic  directly  with  foreign  nations ;  that  was  contrary  to 
the  laws  of  England,  and  destructive  of  the  king's  su 
premacy  over  them.  Did  they  grow  turbulent,  and  chase 
away  royal  governors  and  custom-house  officers;  that 
was  destructive  of  the  monarch's  sovereignty,  and  a 
denial  of  allegiance.  Did  three  or  four  of  the  colonies 
propose  to  unite  in  order  to  repel  the  attacks  of  the  In 
dians  or  the  French,  their  union  boded  ill  to  the  sove 
reignty  of  the  king,  and  was  prohibited.  Individuals, 
who  desired  to  emigrate  to  America,  were  sometimes 
forbidden  to  depart  from  England  lest  they  should,  in 
their  new  home,  renounce  their  allegiance  to  the  king. 
Tradition  reports  that  such  an  injunction  restrained 
Cromwell  and  some  of  his  fellow-patriots,  when  they 
were  on  ship-board  and  ready  to  sail  for  New  England; 
and  it  was  objected  to  the  Puritans,  that  they  wished  to 
go  to  America  in  order  to  free  themselves  from  subjec 
tion  to  the  crown.  They  were  taunted  with  the  accusa 
tion  that  they  wished  to  get  away  from  the  presence  of 
his  majesty,  that  they  might  cease  to  render  him  obe- 


ROYAL    COLONIZATION.  139 

dience.  A  license  to  emigrate,  which  was  inserted  in 
many  of  the  charters,  pointed  to  the  allegiance  which 
the  emigrants  owed  to  their  king  in  England,  and  which 
they  would  continue  to  owe  in  their  home  in  America. 

These  two  ideas  caused  the  English  kings  to  look 
upon  the  colonies  as  extensions  of  the  kingdom,  and 
upon  the  colonists  as  subjects.  The  grants  to  corpora 
tions  and  others,  of  regions  in  America,  were  regarded 
as  trusts  for  increasing  the  power  and  promoting  the 
honour  of  the  crown.  Hence,  when  the  king  was  ad 
vised  that  a  colony  failed  in  this  trust,  when  he  saw  it 
perform  acts  endangering  his  colonial  sovereignty,  or 
when  he  apprehended  that  its  inhabitants  were  forgetting 
their  allegiance,  it  was  warned  of  its  error.  If  it  did 
not  speedily  satisfy  the  crown,  the  royal  power  was  put 
forth  to  reduce  it  to  immediate  dependence. 

I  have  stated  this  connexion  of  the  crown  with  the 
colonies  in  general  terms,  because  they  were  all  at  one 
time  or  another  reduced  to  royal  provinces  mainly  be 
cause  they  had  not  been  sufficiently  careful  in  recog 
nising  the  king's  sovereignty,  or  their  own  allegiance. 
It  was  to  preserve  this  sovereignty  and  allegiance  that 
they  were  all  directed  to  be  governed  by  the  laws  of 
England,  so  far  as  applicable  to  their  condition. 

These  two  ideas,  dug  from  the  rubbish  of  feudalism, 
sent  the  English  sovereigns  to  control  American  coloni 
zation  ;  but  those  princes  did  not  reflect  that  these  two 
old  ideas  might  not  be  suited  or  applicable  to  the  con 
dition  of  things  in  the  New  World.  They  saw  that 
sovereignty  and  perpetual  allegiance  did  well  enough  in 
Europe  ;  and  it  did  not  occur  to  them  that  they  would 
not  be  adapted  to  emigrants  in  America. 

Ideas  of  fitness  or  appropriateness  often  arise  very 
slowly.  When  the  missionaries  went  to  the  Sandwich 


140  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Islands,  they  burnt  shells,  made  lime,  and  whitewashed 
their  buildings.  The  islanders,  seeing  the  effect,  also 
burnt  shells,  made  lime,  and  proceeded  to  whitewash. 
First  they  whitewashed  their  houses,  then  their  furniture, 
then  their  pigs,  then  their  poultry ;  and  finally,  they 
whitewashed  their  children.  They  saw  that  whitewash 
ing  was  an  elegant  improvement  to  buildings;  but  it 
never  occurred  to  them  that  it  would  be  inappropriate  to 
pigs,  poultry,  and  children.  The  English  kings  com 
mitted  a  similar  error  in  their  conduct  towards  the  Ame 
rican  colonies.  They  saw  that  sovereignty  and  perpetual 
allegiance  were  fine  ideas  for  Europe ;  but  they  did  not 
reflect  that  these  ideas  were  of  European  growth ;  they 
did  not  reflect  that  new  circumstances  must  necessarily 
produce  new  systems  of  government.  They  had  no 
thing  to  offer  to  America  except  feudal  sovereignty  and 
perpetual  allegiance ;  but  the  inappropriateness  of  this 
offering  to  the  condition  of  the  emigrants  rendered  the 
royal  whitewashing  a  trouble  and  a  failure. 

We  may  say  the  attempt  of  the  kings  to  carry  these 
two  ideas  into  practice  in  America  was  a  failure ;  for  the 
colonists  disregarded  them  both — always  practically— 
often  systematically.  Many  of  them  had  come  to  the 
wilderness  to  escape  from  the  oppression  laid  upon  them 
in  Europe.  The  accusations  of  the  royalists  were  true  ; 
for  the  colonists  did  wish  to  free  themselves  from  the 
burdens  of  obedience ;  their  opinions,  their  wishes, 
their  wrhole  temper  of  mind,  were  hostile  to  the  royal 
claims  of  sovereignty  and  perpetual  allegiance.  Hence, 
during  the  whole  colonial  history  there  was  a  constant 
struggle  between  the  democratic  element  and  the  regal 
element.  The  royal  power  was  exerted  to  propagate, 
to  preserve,  to  enforce,  sovereignty  and  allegiance  ;  and 
the  democratic  power  was  exerted  to  shake  off  this 


ROYAL    COLONIZATION.  141 

yoke,  to  get  away  from  this  obedience,  and  to  establish 
a  system  of  government,  suited  to  the  wants  and  wishes 
and  circumstances  of  the  colonists. 

Surely  it  cannot  be  matter  of  surprise  that  two  such 
antipo  al  systems  should,  like  the  principles  of  good  and 
evil,  be  in  unceasing  conflict.  The  result  of  the  conflict 
was,  that  the  attempt  of  the  kings  to  maintain  themselves 
at  the  head  of  American  colonization  was  unsuccessful ; 
and,  though  they  appointed  the  governors  of  the  royal 
provinces  down  to  the  Revolution,  yet  their  authority 
over  the  internal  government  of  the  colonies  might  well 
be  symbolized  by  a  shadow,  or  at  least  by  a  meager, 
thin,  debilitated,  consumptive  figure.  When  I  say  that 
kings  failed  to  maintain  themselves  at  the  head  of  the 
American  colonies,  I  do  not  refer  to  the  Revolution  as 
the  time  when  that  failure  occurred ;  I  mean  that  the 
main  ideas  of  sovereignty  and  allegiance  were  resisted 
by  the  colonists,  and  that  they  were  resisted  with  such 
effect,  that  in  their  internal  affairs  the  emigrants — the 
people — were  the  supreme  power. 

But  we  must  hasten  on  to  the  last  series  of  attempts 
that  were  made  in  American  colonization,  which  we  will 
resume  in  the  next  lecture. 


LECTURE  V. 
POPULAR  COLONIZATION. 

Popular  Colonization :  I.  Attempts  by  the  people  directly  to  plant  co 
lonies — Settlement  of  New  England — First  constitution  formed  on 
the  Mayflower — Pure  democracy — Religious  liberty — Roger  Wil 
liams  promulgates  entire  liberty  of  conscience  ;  II.  Attempts  by  the 
people  to  gain  the  control  of  colonies  planted  by  corporations  and 
feudal  nobles — Success  in  the  several  colonies — Causes  of  the  po 
pularization  of  all  the  colonies :  I.  Many  of  the  colonists  came  to 
escape  from  oppression  in  Europe — Connexion  of  the  Reformation 
with  liberty  in  America — Progress  of  liberal  opinion;  II.  The 
emigrants  were  in  America  removed  from  the  influence  of  old  and 
illiberal  institutions — System  of  laws,  however,  carried  with  them 
to  America — Adaptation  of  the  common  law  to  the  colonies — Abo 
lition  of  the  law  of  primogeniture  —  All  the  colonial  movements 
tended  towards  popular  government — Conclusion  of  the  review  of 
American  colonization. 

WE  have  reviewed  the  attempts  made  by  foreign 
corporations,  feudal  princes,  and  kings,  to  plant  and  go 
vern  colonies  in  America,  and  we  now  come  to  consider 
the  popular  attempts  at  colonization.  According  to  the 
order  already  presented,  we  have  the  general  statement : 
fourth, 

THE  PEOPLE,  INDEPENDENTLY  OF  FOREIGN  CORPORATIONS, 
FEUDAL  NOBLES,  AND  KINGS,  TRIED  TO  FORM  COLONIES  IN 
AMERICA. 

Private  enterprise  was  the  animating  spirit  which  in 
fused  life  and  energy  into  American  colonization.  Pri 
vate  adventurers,  to  make  gain  or  to  escape  oppression, 
came  to  this  continent,  and  were  the  true  founders  of 
our  nation.  Some  of  them  came  under  the  guardian- 


POPULAR   COLONIZATION.  143 

ship  of  foreign  corporations ;  some  under  the  direction 
of  feudal  nobles ;  but  many,  putting  their  trust  in  a  be 
nign  Providence,  came  hither  to  seek  that  repose  and 
liberty  of  conscience  which  were  denied  them  in  Eu 
rope.  Let  us  see  what  influence  these  popular  attempts 
at  colonization  had  upon  the  organization  of  our  republic. 
In  the  assertion  that  the  people  tried  to  form  colonies, 
there  are  involved  two  subordinate  ideas  which,  though 
closely  connected,  have  certain  shades  of  difference 
worthy  of  our  notice.  The  first  idea  is,  that  the  people, 
private  individuals,  the  mass  men,  attempted,  of  their 
own  mere  motion,  to  originate  colonies  in  America :  the 
other  subordinate  idea  is,  that  in  the  colonies  originated 
by  corporations  and  feudal  nobles,  the  people  endea 
voured  to  gain  the  ascendency.  Let  us  pursue  the  course 
pointed  out  by  this  division,  and  inquire  first  a  little  into 
the  purely  popular  attempts  at  colonization  in  America. 
I.  New  England  was  the  region  where  the  earliest  of 
these  attempts  was  made,  and  where  their  results  were 
most  fully  developed.  The  story  of  the  Puritans  will  at 
once  suggest  itself  when  mention  is  made  of  the  popular 
colonization  of  our  countiy.  Children  of  the  Reforma 
tion,  they  had  fled  from  England  to  avoid  the  severe 
laws  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  That  Protestant  princess,  in 
her  zeal  for  uniformity  of  doctrine  and  worship,  caused 
laws  to  be  enacted  directing  all  her  dutiful  subjects  to 
conform  to  the  ceremonies  and  creed  of  the  Church  of 
England.  A  sect  appeared  who  refused  compliance. 
Flying  for  conscience'  sake,  they  sought  refuge  in  Hol 
land,  that  foggy  receptacle  for  the  persecuted  and  dis 
affected  of  all  nations.  Sighing  at  the  thought  of  their 
children  being  changed  into  Dutch  merchants,  and 
losing  their  language  and  faith,  they  turned  their  eyes  to 
the  wilderness  of  America.  They  yearned  for  a  home 


144  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

where  they  could  repose  in  peace,  and  \vhere  liberty  of 
conscience  could  be  enjoyed.  They  sailed  for  America ; 
and  the  Mayflower,  bearing  these  patriarchal  heroes  of 
our  nation,  arrived  off  the  coast  of  Massachusetts,  in 
December,  A.  D.  1620. 

What  were  their  views  respecting  their  future 'career? 
Their  plans  and  faith  are  revealed  in  the  form  of  govern 
ment  which  they  adopted  on  ship-board,  and  under 
which  they  proposed  to  act  in  their  new  home.  This 
primitive  document  of  American  democracy  ran  as  fol 
lows: 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen:  we,  whose  names  are 
underwritten,  the  loyal  subjects  of  our  dread  sovereign, 
King  James,  having  undertaken,  for  the  glory  of  God 
and  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  honour  of 
our  king  and  country,  a  voyage  to  plant  the  first  colony 
in  the  northern  parts  of  Virginia,  do,  by  these  presents, 
solemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of 
one  another,  covenant  and  combine  ourselves  together 
into  a  civil  body  politic,  for  our  better  ordering  and  pre 
servation,  and  furtherance  of  the  ends  aforesaid ;  and, 
by  virtue  hereof,  do  enact,  constitute,  and  frame  such 
just  and  equal  laws,  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions,  and 
officers,  from  time  to  time,  as  shall  be  thought  most  meet 
and  convenient  for  the  general  good  of  the  colony.  Unto 
which  we  promise  all  due  submission  and  obedience." 

We  have  transcribed  this  compact  entire,  because  it 
gives  a  luminous  view  of  the  origin  of  popular  govern 
ment  in  America.  "  We,  the  undersigned,  combine  our 
selves  together  into  a  civil  body  politic:"  this  is  the 
substance  of  the  constitution  adopted  by  the  pilgrim 
fathers.  Abstractionists  have  laboured  to  find  in  a  social 
compact  the  origin  of  human  government.  They  might 
have  verified  their  speculations  by  quoting  the  simple 


POPULAR    COLONIZATION. 


145 


and  sublime  announcement  which  was  made  from  the 
Mayflower,  when  forty-one  persons  "  combined  them 
selves  together  into  a  civil  body  politic."  Here  was 
democratic  government  in  its  cradle.  Nothing  was  said 
about  the  divine  right  of  kings,  nothing  was  said  about 
the -divine  origin  of  human  government,  nothing  was 
said  about  perpetual  allegiance ;  but  a  great  event  was 
announced  in  the  declaration  "  we  combine  ourselves 
together  into  a  civil  body  politic."  Who  will  even  now 
describe  the  results  of  this  democratic  organization  ? 

When  ^Eneas,  the  father  of  the  Roman  Empire,  sailed 
for  the  shores  of  Italy,  all  Heaven  was  thrown  into  an 
uproar  in  contemplation  of  the  results,  and  Jupiter  and 
the  grand  celestials  made  angry  speeches  to  each  other 
on  the  subject,  as  long  as  the  messages  of  modern  go 
vernors.  The  gods  and  goddesses  paired  off,  like  WThigs 
and  Tories,  into  two  political  parties,  one  party  being 
for  yEneas,  and  one  against  him.  Virgil  tells  the  whole 
story,  describing  the  fights  and  copying  the  speeches. 

Now  grant  that  these  fables  were  realities,  and  we 
have,  in  the  voyage  of  the  Roman  progenitor,  a  type  of 
that  actual  voyage  which  brought  the  Puritans  to  New 
England,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  our  nation.  If  the 
fabled  ship  was  freighted  with  the  destinies  of  Rome,  in 
the  Mayflower  were  borne  the  seeds  of  that  republican 
tree  under  which  millions  of  freemen  now  repose. 

What  were  the  motives  which  brought  the  pilgrims 
here  ?  What  were  the  views  they  entertained  of  their 
prospective  position  in  America  ?  The  primitive  docu 
ment  of  American  democracy,  which  we  have  just  quoted, 
tells  us  that  they  desired  to  plant  a  colony  for  the  glory 
of  God,  for  the  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith,  and 
honour  of  their  king  and  country.  This  recital  of  their 
motives  points  to  the  most  exalted  ends  of  human  ac- 

N 


146  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

tion ;  and,  with  their  eyes  steadily  fixed  upon  these  grand 
results,  they  commenced  the  Plymouth  colony.  Being 
at  first  a  pure  democracy,  they  endured  sore  trials  of 
their  religious  and  political  faith.  Subsequently  they 
organized  a  representative  republic,  and  became  the 
model  of  many  other  New  England  settlements.* 

The  settlement  of  Massachusetts  commenced  under 
a  foreign  corporation.  The  Plymouth  Company  of  Eng 
land,  in  the  days  of  its  decline,  granted  a  charter  for 
Massachusetts  to  a  subordinate  corporation  in  England, 
at  the  head  of  which  was  Sir  Henry  Rosewell.  In  a  few 
years  this  charter  was  transferred  from  England  to  Mas 
sachusetts,  or,  in  other  words,  the  corporation  itself  emi 
grated,  and  became  part  of  the  colony  it  was  to  establish. 


*  In  the  "History  of  the  Revolt  of  the  American  Colonies,  by 
George  Chalmers,"  recently  published  in  Boston,  the  author,  a  Scotch 
loyalist,  thus  characterizes  the  Puritan  emigrants  : 

"A  few  fanatics,  who,  tired  of  the  European  world,  because  it  de 
nied  to  them  that  toleration  which  they  showed  little  inclination  to 
allow  to  others,  sailed  for  Virginia,  but  were  driven  by  storm  on  the 
coast  of  New  England.  Here  they  determined  to  end  a  disastrous 
voyage,  since  the  approach  of  winter  as  well  as  their  distresses  forbade 
farther  adventure.  But  sagacity  soon  discovered  that  he  who  appears 
to  be  animated  by  the  fervours  of  religion,  may  at  the  same  time  be 
actuated  by  the  most  ardent  ambition." — Chal.  B.  I.  c.  II. 

The  loyalist  author  regards  these  "fanatics"  as  the  disseminators 
of  that  rebellious  spirit  which  he  so  much  deplores. 

In  a  subsequent  chapter,  speaking  of  the  clergy  of  Massachusetts 
and  New  Plymouth,  he  gives  us  the  following  information  : 

"The  savage  vulgarity  of  the  clergy  gave  them  considerable  influ 
ence  over  the  minds  of  the  multitude,  whose  manners  they  formed, 
whose  inclinations  they  directed  to  that  love  of  equality,  that  impa 
tience  of  restraint,  which  strangers  in  after  times  attributed  to  a  level 
ling  principle.  And  to  this  source  may  be  traced  up  the  genuine 
causes  of  the  various  events  of  their  annals." — Chal.  B.  II.,  c.  II. 

There  is  great  truth  in  some  of  these  observations.  But  the  Pu 
ritan  clergy,  "fanatics"  acting  with  "savage  vulgarity !"  That  will 
do.  Good-bye,  Mr.  Chalmers. 


POPULAR   COLONIZATION.  147 

Endicott,  a  hero  renowned  in  New  England's  history, 
led  the  mass.  A  civil  government  was  organized,  of 
which  the  charter  was  the  nucleus,  and  in  which  the 
emigrants,  the  multitude,  were  the  rulers ;  and  Mas 
sachusetts  became  the  centre  of  New  England  coloniza 
tion  ;  and,  reaching  out  its  arms  northward  and  south 
ward,  it  embraced  Maine,  and  finally  absorbed  the  Ply 
mouth  colony.  The  little  plantations  that  were  esta 
blished  by  private  enterprise  along  the  coast  of  New 
England,  became,  in  time,  incorporated  into  this  pro 
vince.  Here  the  entire  civil  government,  in  its  whole 
internal  administration,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  colo 
nists  ;  here  men  learned  to  govern  themselves ;  here  the 
«  diggers-up  of  trees'  roots"  became  law-makers,  judges, 
and  governors. 

Emigrants  from  Massachusetts,  under  the  direction 
of  the  worthy  Thomas  Hooker,  planted  a  colony  on  the 
Connecticut,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  that  province 
on  the  broad  basis  of  democracy.  These  emigrants,  like 
the  pilgrims  of  the  Mayflower,  erected  themselves  into 
a  body  politic,  and  exercised,  of  their  own  mere  mo 
tion,  all  the  functions  of  government  without  any  recog 
nition  of  royal  sovereignty  or  perpetual  allegiance  to  the 
crown.  A  colony,  similar  in  origin  and  independence, 
was  established  at  New  Haven  :  and  these  little  republics 
were,  in  the  next  generation,  united  into  the  province 
of  Connecticut  by  charter  from  Charles  II. 

But  while  the  Puritans  sought  to  establish  democratic 
colonies,  and  enjoy  political  and  religious  liberty,  they 
forgot  that  all  intellects  have  an  equal  right  to  act  for 
themselves.  They  became  so  rigidly  exclusive,  that  con 
formity  to  their  own  church  became  the  condition  of 
citizenship.  Roger  Williams,  fixing  his  steady  gaze 
upon  a  bright  and  glorious  star,  the  star  of  intellectual 


148  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

liberty,  refused  to  comply  with  the  requisitions  made  in 
behalf  of  the  established  church  of  Massachusetts ;  the 
legislature  banished  him  from  the  province ;  and  he  went 
forth  from  his  kindred  to  become,  like  Abraham  of  old, 
a  blessing  to  the  world.  With  the  mattock,  the  oar,  and 
the  Bible,  the  heroic  exile  sat  down  in  the  wilderness, 
and  laid  the  foundations  of  Rhode  Island.  A  constitu 
tion  of  the  most  liberal  character  was  framed  for  the  go 
vernment  of  his  colony.  The  will  of  the  majority  was 
to  govern  the  state  in  civil  matters  ;  but  in  regard  to  spi 
ritual  affairs,  no  governor  was  recognised  except  the 
Father  of  Spirits.  All  creeds  and  all  sects  were  ad 
mitted  to  Rhode  Island ;  Jew  and  Pagan,  Mahometan 
and  Christian,  all  were  there  provided  a  shelter.  Roger 
Williams  had  the  sagacity  to  strike  upon  absolute  free 
dom  of  conscience,  upon  universal  toleration,  as  the 
basis  of  his  colony ;  he  first  had  the  sagacity  to  deve- 
lope  this  principle,  a  principle  which  has  become  im 
bedded  into  the  solid  structure  of  our  nation.  Calvert 
before  him,  and  Penn  after  him,  founded  states  with 
toleration  of  all  Christian  sects ;  Williams  went  a  step 
farther,  and  opened  an  asylum  for  all  creeds,  of  all  na 
tions.  Our  whole  Union  has  adopted  the  principle  first 
promulgated  by  him,  that  government  should  not  adopt 
religious  creeds.  Thought  should  be  unlimited  except 
by  the  lawrs  of  the  Creator,  the  only  laws  adapted  to  its 
nature. 

This  universal  liberty  of  conscience  was,  at  a  subse 
quent  day,  recognised  in  the  charter  of  Rhode  Island 
granted  by  Charles  II.  In  that  primitive  document  of 
religious  liberty,  the  following  provisions  are  inserted : 

"  No  person  within  the  said  colony  shall  be  anywise 
molested,  punished,  disquieted,  or  called  in  question  for 
any  differences  in  opinion  in  matters  of  religion ;  but 


POPULAR   COLONIZATION.  149 

9 

all  and  every  person  and  persons  may  freely  and  fully 
have  and  enjoy  his  and  their  own  judgment  and  con 
science  in  matters  of  religious  concernment,  they  be 
having  themselves  peaceably  and  quietly,  and  not  using 
this  liberty  to  licentiousness  and  profaneness,  nor  to  the 
civil  injury  and  outward  disturbance  of  others." 

This  noble  charter  was  granted  by  the  royal  perse 
cutor  of  the  Scottish  covenanters !  The  substance  of  it 
is  the  religious  charter  of  our  whole  nation.  The  part 
of  it  which  I  have  recited  cannot  be  too  carefully  stu 
died  ;  it  provides  for  the  free  exercise  of  religion,  with 
no  other  restriction  than  that  this  liberty  is  not  to  be 
made  a  cloak  for  licentiousness,  or  injury  to  others. 
Such  was  the  character  of  the  popular  colonization  of 
New  England. 

A  similar  spontaneous  movement  of  the  people  planted 
the  colony  of  North  Carolina.  Many  adventurers  from 
New  England  sought  a  home  in  that  southern  wilder 
ness,  and  aided  North  Carolina  in  successfully  rejecting 
the  philosophical  constitution  of  Locke. 

New  England,  however,  became  the  seed-plot  of 
liberal  opinions,  and  Massachusetts  was  the  nursery  of 
democracy.  After  fighting  along  for  half  a  century,  the 
charter  of  that  province  was  revoked  by  James  II.,  be 
cause  "he  could  see  no  use  for  it."  It  was  restored,  as 
we  have  already  mentioned,  by  William  III.,  with  the 
alteration,  that  a  governor  was  to  be  appointed  by  the 
crown.  The  contest  between  the  royal  governors  and 
the  people  of  that  province,  which  were  carried  on 
through  three-quarters  of  a  century,  is  a  luminous  com 
mentary  upon  the  democracy  of  New  England.  The 
governor  insisted  that  the  legislature  of  the  province 
should  pass  an  act  giving  him  a  fixed  salary.  The  legis 
lature  could  "see  no  use"  for  such  an  act,  and  refused. 


150  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

An  almost  ludicrous  contest  of  three-quarters  of  a  cen 
tury  ensued.  If  we  had  no  more  of  the  colonial  history 
than  what  relates  to  this  matter  of  the  salary  of  the 
royal  governor  of  Massachusetts,  we  could  form  a  pretty 
correct  idea  of  the  temper  of  the  popular  colonies,  and 
of  the  relation  which,  in  their  opinion,  they  sustained  to 
England.  But  we  are  not  restricted  to  this  half-comical, 
yet  highly  important  contest  about  the  pay  of  the  king's 
governor.  The  whole  colonial  history  of  New  England 
is  the  history  of  a  people  who  were  determined  to  have 
their  internal  government  in  their  own  hands  ;  and  who, 
by  the  exercise  of  great  wisdom,  firmness,  and  sagacity, 
baffled  the  English  sovereigns  and  lived  under  their  own 
laws.  Such  men  were  worthy  to  be  the  leaders  in  those 
measures  which  eventuated  in  the  establishment  of  our 
national  independence  and  national  union. 

II.  The  second  subordinate  idea  involved  in  the  con 
sideration  of  the  popular  colonization  of  our  country  is, 
that  in  the  colonies  originated  by  corporations  and  feudal 
nobles,  the  people  tried  to  gain  the  ascendency.  In  these 
attempts  there  was  a  singular  uniformity  in  the  colonies. 
I  mean  a  uniformity  in  regard  to  the  results  upon  popular 
government.  The  popular  movement  in  the  colonies  was 
a  progressive  movement,  and  its  progression  was  con 
tinually  towrards  republicanism.  In  Virginia,  the  people, 
while  yet  under  the  corporation  that  planted  the  colony, 
established  a  house  of  representatives  which  became  a 
model  for  the  other  American  plantations.  In  the  New 
Netherlands,  while  under  the  Dutch  East  India  Company, 
a  similar  attempt  was  made  by  the  colonists  to  gain  a 
share  in  the  government.  At  a  later  day,  and  under  a 
change  of  masters,  they  accomplished  their  purpose. 

In  the  colonies  which  were  organized  on  the  plan  of 
feudal  principalities,  a  similar  popularization  occurred. 


POPULAR  COLONIZATION.  151 

In  the  Carolinas,  in  Maryland,  in  Delaware,  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  and  in  the  Jerseys,  the  people — the  colonists, 
practically  governed  themselves  during  the  period  in 
\vhich  the  proprietors  claimed  the  ascendency.  The 
democratic  or  liberal  element  prevailed  through  these 
colonies,  and  the  people  would  rule;  the  feudal  ele 
ment  would  not  amalgamate  with  the  democratic  ele 
ment.  The  introduction  of  great  proprietors  seemed 
like  bringing  to  the  wilderness  of  America  the  lords  and 
lordlings  of  overruled  Europe.  When  transplanted  to 
America,  nobility  became  a  sickly  exotic ;  it  would  not 
acclimate.  While  proprietors  were  talking  of  their  rents, 
the  people  were  intent  only  upon  liberty.  To  keep 
the  inhabitants  in  a  good  humour,  the  proprietors  granted 
them  political  privileges;  and  Pennsylvania  and  Mary 
land  enjoyed  a  large  share  of  liberty  through  the  be 
nevolence  of  their  founders,  while  the  Carolinas  and  the 
Jerseys  obtained  similar  immunities' through  the  ope 
ration  of  less  exalteci  motives — the  hope  of  gain.  The 
people,  however,  by  one  means  and  another  gained  a 
school — a  gymnasium,  where  they  could  exercise  and 
train  and  discipline  themselves  in  self-government. 

Similar  attempts,  attended  with  similar  success,  were 
made  in  those  provinces  where  the  crown,  succeeding  to 
the  labours  of  others,  endeavoured  to  control  the  internal 
government  of  the  colonies.  It  is  not  pretended  that 
the  royal  colonies  were  at  all  times  in  a  struggle  with 
the  crown,  or  that  there  were  no  examples  of  subordina 
tion,  and  even  of  temporary  subjection  to  the  royal  au 
thority.  Acts  might  be  cited  which  indicate  a  very 
loyal  submission,  as  were  many  acts  of  the  colonists, 
connected  with  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  For 
illustration,  we  may  mention  that  the  legislature  of  Vir 
ginia,  which  on  the  reception  of  that  news  was  elected 


152  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

for  two  years,  sat  sixteen,  and  became  a  mere  tool  in 
the  hands  of  the  royal  governor,  for  disfranchising  the 
colonists  and  reducing  them  to  unconditional  bondage. 
The  popular  spirit,  however,  revived  after  sixteen  years 
of  usurnation;  Bacon's  rebellion,  in  A.  D.  1676,  dis 
persed  the  royalist  legislature  ;  and  the  flames  of  James 
town,  which  was  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  liberty,  sym 
bolized  well  the  burning  spirit  of  freedom,  which,  after 
shooting  out  at  different  points,  and  gathering  strength 
through  a  whole  century,  finally  blazed  forth  in  the  fires 
of  the  Revolution.  At  a  later  day,  New  York  exhibited 
a  similar  loyal  spirit  on  the  accession  of  William  III. 
The  popular  assembly  of  the  colony,  on  that  occasion, 
signified  its  loyal  zeal  by  executing  the  patriotic,  but 
unfortunate  Leisler,  whose  projects  of  popular  liberty 
were  subsequently  adopted  from  Massachusetts  to 
Georgia.  But  exclusive  of  a  few  such  examples  of 
loyal  submission,  the  movement  of  the  royal  provinces 
harmonized  with  the  liberal  movements  of  the  other 
colonies.  There  was  a  unison,  a  sympathy,  a  har 
mony  of  feeling,  connecting  the  different  provinces  all 
along  the  Atlantic  border ;  and  the  same  struggle,  the 
same  spirit  contending  for  the  same  objects,  may  be 
seen  at  different  epochs  along  the  whole  line  of  colo 
nial  history. 

I  have  just  noticed  the  general  harmony  between  the 
movements  of  the  royal  provinces  and  of  the  other  co 
lonies;  and  you  perceive  that  in  them  all  the  move 
ment  was  towards  a  popularization  of  the  colonial  go 
vernments.  There  was  a  constant  effort  of  the  people— 
of  the  mass — of  "the  diggers-up  of  trees'  roots" — to 
escape  from  the  control  of  kings,  corporations,  and  feudal 
nobles,  and  to  establish  colonial  governments,  in  which 
they  could  manage  their  own  affairs  in  their  own  way. 


POPULAR   COLONIZATION.  153 

This  was  the  result — the  end — the  point  towards  which 
the  diversified  events  of  the  colonial  history  constantly 
tended. 

A  few  of  the  causes  or  circumstances  which  promoted 
this  popularization  of  the  colonial  governments,  merit  a 
passing  notice  in  this  connexion,  inasmuch  as  even  a 
cursory  view  of  them  will  exhibit  the  fountain-heads 
from  which  have  flowed  the  liberal  streams  that  now 
water  our  land. 

I.  The  first  of  these  circumstances  is  to  be  found  in 
the  fact  that  many,  very  many,  of  the  colonists  came  to 
America  to  escape  from  the  religious  and  political  per 
secutions  to  which  they  were  exposed  at  home.  The 
progress  of  affairs  in  America  was  affected  by  the  move 
ments  in  Europe.  The  great  ocean  of  human  beings 
ebbs  and  flows,  and  the  remote  wilderness  feels  the 
heavings  of  the  distant  city.  The  same  Providence  who 
made  of  one  blood  all  the  families  of  men,  and  sent  them 
to  dwell  over  the  face  of  all  the  earth,  prepares  from 
afar  the  means  by  which  new  and  grand  results  are  to  be 
developed  in  the  career  of  the  human  race.  The  Re 
formation  in  Europe  and  its  consequences  to  the  nations 
there,  were  the  means,  the  agencies,  the  moving  influ 
ences  which  Providence  employed  to  fill  America  with 
the  men  who  were  needed  in  the  origination  and  es 
tablishment  of  our  republic.  The  Reformation  had  a 
political  as  well  as  an  ecclesiastical  operation.  It  de 
veloped  one  idea,  which  ran  equally  through  religion, 
through  politics,  and  through  philosophy.  That  idea 
was,  that  Mind  is  of  right  free.  This  one  idea  revolu 
tionized  the  church,  revolutionized  philosophy,  and  went 
far  towards  revolutionizing  government.  It  laid  the  axe 
at  the  root  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  political  slave-tree. 


154  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

It  did  more :  it  raised  up  giants  who  wielded  that  axe 
with  mighty  force  and  ponderous  strokes. 

Rightly  to  appreciate  the  operation  of  this  idea,  and 
the  work  which  the  Reformation  accomplished,  we  must 
remember  that  the  political  and  ecclesiastical  organiza 
tion  of  Europe  was  one  system  and  one  organization. 
The  church  was  not  first  organized  and  then  the  state, 
nor  was  the  state  first  organized  and  then  the  church ; 
but  church  and  state  grew  up  together,  and  formed  one 
system — not  two.  Hence,  in  the  straining  and  disrup 
tion  of  the  cords  of  the  church  in  the  days  of  the  Re 
formation,  there  was  also  great  violence  done  to  the  cords 
of  the  state.  The  Reformation  consequently  introduced 
a  Protestantism  in  the  state  as  well  as  in  the  church ;  and 
the  populace  of  Europe  awoke  to  the  idea  of  freedom — 
freedom  of  the  intellect,  freedom  in  matters  of  religion, 
and  freedom  in  political  government.  The  Reformation 
developed  this  idea,  expanded  it,  and  held  it  up  before 
the  admiring  eyes  of  thousands.  What  was  the  conse 
quence  ?  The  immediate  consequence  was,  that  this 
idea  of  freedom,  in  its  several  ramifications  in  church, 
state,  and  philosophy,  came  in  collision  with  an  anta 
gonistic  idea:  namely,  the  doctrine  of  absolute  power, 
the  doctrine  of  a  divinely  granted  authority  in  church,  in 
state,  and  in  philosophy.  A  contest,  long,  fierce,  furious, 
and  bloody,  ensued  between  these  two  ideas ;  absolutism, 
in  its  several  ramifications,  being  arrayed  on  one  side, 
and  liberty  on  the  other.  It  was  in  the  heavings  of  this 
struggle  that  the  oppressed  children  of  freedom  sought 
and  found  an  asylum  in  America.  They  came  hither, 
as  the  dove  returned  to  the  ark,  because  it  could  find 
elsewhere  no  rest  for  the  sole  of  its  foot. 

Here  is  the  connexion  of  the  Reformation  with  the 
popularized  and  liberty-loving  governments  of  America. 


POPULAR    COLONIZATION.  155 

The  connexion  lies  in  the  idea  of  liberty  which  was  struck 
out  and  developed  by  the  Reformers,  and  which  brought 
men  here  in  hopes  of  realizing  that  freedom  of  con 
science,  of  government,  and  of  thought,  which  was  de 
nied  them  in  Europe. 

And  what  kind  of  men  came  here  from  these  motives  ? 
What  were  their  excellencies  ?  their  peculiar  character 
istics?  Without  hesitation  I  reply,  "they  were  men." 
They  were  the  choice  spirits  of  Europe.  They  were 
individuals  who  exercised  thought,  who  reasoned,  who 
looked  away  from  the  glitter  of  courts,  from  the  mitres 
of  the  church,  and  from  the  flatteries  of  princes.  They 
felt  in  their  inmost  souls  the  living  reality  of  liberty : 
liberty  of  conscience,  of  government,  and  of  thought. 
And  they  had  the  moral  courage  to  free  themselves  from 
bondage,  to  think  for  themselves,  and  to  act  for  them 
selves.  The  first  class  of  these  moral  heroes  who 
sought  shelter  writhin  the  limits  of  the  present  United 
States,  were  the  Huguenots,  who  planted  themselves  un 
der  the  guardianship  of  Coligny  in  Carolina,  and  subse 
quently  in  Florida.  Annihilated  by  the  jealousy  and 
cruelty  of  the  Spaniards,  they  bequeathed  their  spirit  and 
their  daring  to  their  moral  kindred  in  Europe,  and  the 
Puritans  copied  their  example.  Roger  Williams,  and 
Penn,  and  Lord  Baltimore,  gazed  upon  the  same  glori 
ous  image  of  liberty.  They  followed  the  persecuted  and 
flying  beauty  to  the  wilderness,  and  among  the  chestnuts 
and  oaks  and  rocks  and  rivers  of  North  America,  built 
bowers  for  her  abode. 

It  is  pleasing  to  watch  the  progress  and  operation  of 
a  single  grand  idea.  The  mind  is  of  right  free,  said  the 
Quaker,  because  God  in  the  soul  is  the  standard  of  truth. 
The  dignity  of  the  Divine  presence  requires  his  taber 
nacle,  the  human  soul,  to  be  free. 


156  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Arriving  at  the  same  result  through  a  less  sublime 
philosophy,  the  oppressed  of  every  name  in  Europe 
joined  the  disciples  of  Barclay  and  Penn,  and  preferred 
liberty  in  the  wilderness  to  slavery  in  the  land  of  their 
fathers.  They  fled  from  Europe  to  escape  from  bondage 
in  conscience,  in  government,  and  in  thought ;  and  should 
they  in  America,  by  yielding  to  the  control  of  kings,  cor 
porations  and  nobles,  abandon  that  liberty  whose  glo 
rious  image  had  allured  them  hither  ?  Is  it  matter  of 
surprise  that  such  men  in  their  new  homes  "  could  see 
no  use  for"  feudal  proprietors  and  royal  governors  ? 
With  such  men,  acting  from  such  motives,  the  popular 
organization  of  the  new  governments  in  America  was 
inevitable. 

II.  Another  circumstance  which  operated  very  exten 
sively  in  giving  to  the  colonial  governments  a  popular 
cast,  was,  that  the  emigrants  came  away  from  institutions 
and  influences  which  were  adverse  to  free  government. 
I  do  not  here  refer  to  the  distance — the  three  thousand 
miles  of  ocean  which  separated  the  colonists  from  Europe 
• — though  that  was  favourable  to  self-government.  I  wish 
rather  to  present  the  idea  of  coming  away,  of  rising  up 
and  leaving,  of  coming  out  from  among  aristocratic  and 
monarchic  institutions.  By  such  a  separation,  the  emi 
grants,  when  they  arrived  here,  had  the  benefit  of  the 
experience  of  Europe  in  matters  of  government;  and 
they  had  this  benefit  without  being  incumbered  with 
the  institutions  and  influences,  which  in  the  countries 
they  left,  were  hostile  to  popular  government.  They  were 
at  liberty  to  select,  or  rather  they  in  fact  did  select  what 
elements  of  European  society  and  government  they  wished 
to  introduce  into  America.  We  have  seen  what  recep 
tion — what  place,  they  gave  to  royalty  and  to  feudal  laws. 
They  in  fact  rejected  them  in  the  internal  organization 


POPULAR    COLONIZATION.  157 

of  the  colonial  governments.  The  ecclesiastical  system, 
the  blended,  two-fold,  dualistic,  Janus-like  organization 
of  church  and  state,  which  in  Europe  was  the  core  of 
persecution  and  oppression,  found  but  little  favour  in 
America.  It  had  a  few  humble  imitations  in  Massachu 
setts,  in  Virginia,  and  at  a  few  other  points  ;  where  it  pro 
duced  its  legitimate  fr u its,  hanging  Quakers  in  the  north, 
and  disfranchising  Roman  Catholics  in  the  south.  But 
the  system  did  not  find  favour.  The  universal  toleration 
preached  and  practised  by  Roger  Williams,  was  the 
polar  star  of  the  colonies  in  church  matters,  and  they 
one  after  another  began  to  sail  by  its  guidance. 

But  there  was  one  element  of  English  society,  which 
was  selected  and  adopted  by  the  colonists ;  and  that  was 
the  common  law  of  England.  This  became  the  basis 
of  colonial  jurisprudence,  for  the  very  substantial  reason 
that  the  early  colonists,  who  came  principally  from  Eng 
land,  were  familiar  with  it.  Conformity  to  it  was  en 
joined  by  the  charters  for  American  colonization,  but 
the  fact  that  the  colonists  were  acquainted  with  it  was 
the  main  ground  of  its  adoption.  The  laws  of  a  people 
mark  their  character ;  and,  as  the  common  law  of  Eng 
land  was  one  of  the  principal  elements  which,  after 
being  elaborated  in  the  Old  World,  was  transferred  to 
the  New,  and  operated  extensively  in  the  organization 
of  our  republic,  the  reasons  and  extent  of  its  adoption 
merit,  in  this  connexion,  a  little  more  detail. 

When  a  people  have  grown  up  under  a  system  of 
laws  which  regulate  their  contracts,  protect  their  pro 
perty,  and  redress  their  injuries,  they  will,  if  taken  from 
their  country  and  thrown  elsewhere  into  a  society,  na 
turally  have  recourse  to  those  laws  for  then-  rule  of  action 
in  their  new  home.  This,  in  fact,  occurred  in  the  Ame 
rican  colonies.  The  first  emigrants  adopted  the  com- 
o 


158  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

mon  law  of  England  in  its  essential  elements,  because 
they  were  familiar  with  it ;  its  provisions,  in  many  re 
spects,  suited  them ;  they  knew  it,  and  therefore  made 
it  their  own.  It  is  often  asserted  that  the  common  law 
was  the  birth-right  of  the  colonies,  and  that  they  were 
entitled  to  it.  It  was  indeed  their  birth-right,  as  the  Eng 
lish  language  was  their  birth-right ;  and  it  became  the  basis 
of  their  jurisprudence,  for  the  same  reason  that  the  Eng 
lish  language  continued  their  language — because  they 
were  acquainted  with  it.  They  retained  their  mother 
tongue  because  they  knew  how  to  scold,  make  love,  and 
drive  bargains  in  it ;  and  they  retained  their  mother  laws 
because  they  suited  the  purposes  of  the  emigrants,  and 
were  known  to  them.  When  it  is  said  that  the  common 
law  was  their  birthright,  and  that  they  were  entitled  to 
it,  the  declaration  relates  to  their  connexion  with  the 
English  sovereigns,  and  intimates  that  laws  long  esta 
blished  had  exempted  all  English  subjects  from  the  op 
pression  and  tyranny  of  the  crown. 

But  many  of  the  colonies  adopted  the  common  law 
with  very  important  modifications.  The  rules  of  primo 
geniture,  which  give  the  whole  estate  of  a  deceased  pa 
rent  to  his  eldest  son,  were  introduced  into  some  of  the 
colonies ;  as  in  the  Carolinas,  Virginia,  New  York,  and 
Rhode  Island ;  but  in  other  colonies  they  were  materially 
changed.  The  reason  of  this  law  ceased  in  America. 
European  society  was  organized  on  the  basis  that  the 
whole  estate  of  a  feudal  lord  should  descend  inalienably 
to  his  eldest  son.  The  property  was  thereby  preserved 
entire  in  the  family,  and  there  was  a  head  or  chief  who 
could  do  battle  in  his  own  cause,  or  in  the  cause  of  his 
paramount  lord.  As  to  the  sons  who  did  not  happen  to 
be  born  first,  "there  was  no  use  for  them." 

The  end  to  be  reached  by  American  colonization  re- 


POPULAR    COLONIZATION.  159 

quired  that  this  castle  of  nobility  should  not  be  firmly 
built  on  this  continent.  Many  of  the  colonies  adopted 
the  rule  of  dividing  estates  among  the  children  of  a  de 
ceased  parent.  Different  colonies  made  this  partition  in 
different  ratios,  but  in  several  of  them  it  approximated 
to  a  division  of  equality.  In  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
New  Hampshire,  and  Pennsylvania,  estates  were  divided, 
giving  to  the  eldest  son  a  double  portion.  Other  colo 
nies  had  provisions  similar  in  substance. 

This  division  of  property  operated  beneficially  upon 
the  popular  cast  of  the  colonial  governments.  Massa 
chusetts  and  Pennsylvania  were  more  popularly  inclined 
than  Virginia  and  New  York.  But  the  essential  benefit 
of  the  rule  of  partition  was,  that  it  created  a  more  nume 
rous  yeomanry  of  moderate  fortunes,  brought  a  greater 
number  of  interests  into  connexion  with  the  colonial 
governments,  and  was  more  congenial  to  the  temper  and 
feelings  of  the  colonists. 

The  prohibition  to  entail  estates,  to  lock  them  up  in 
a  family  through  remote  generations  by  testamentary 
provisions,  when  it  came  to  be  subsequently  united  with 
the  rule  of  partition,  laid  the  solid  foundations  of  our  re 
publican  equality.  I  do  not  mean  an  absolute  equality 
of  wealth,  but  such  an  equality  as  can  be  produced  by 
the  distribution  of  inheritances,  the  division  of  estates, 
and  the  rapid  circulation  of  property. 

We  have  now  enumerated  two  circumstances  which 
promoted  the  popularization  of  the  colonial  governments : 
First,  that  many  of  the  colonists  came  to  America  to 
escape  from  religious  and  political  persecution ;  and 
second,  that,  in  coming  here,  they  left  behind  them  the 
institutions  and  parts  of  institutions  that  were  adverse  to 
free  government.  These  two  circumstances  gave  to 
the  colonies  that  were  of  purely  popular  origin,  an 


160  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

internal  political  organization  which,  in  some  cases,  ap 
proached  almost  to  a  pure  democracy.  To  the  other 
colonies,  whether  originating  with  foreign  corporations, 
or  feudal  nobles,  or  subjected  immediately  to  the  crown, 
the  same  circumstances  imparted  a  highly  popular  cha 
racter,  and  caused  the  colonial  populace  everywhere  to 
demand,  and  in  fact  to  exercise  self-government. 

Other  circumstances,  of  a  more  remote  and  indirect 
character,  co-operated  with  the  two  just  detailed,  and 
aided  in  promoting  the  spirit  of  popular  freedom  in  the 
colonies.  Among  these  remoter  circumstances,  were 
the  troubles  in  England  which  elevated  Cromwell  to 
power,  and  the  character  and  conduct  of  Charles  II. 
The  commotions  which  preceded  the  protector's  eleva 
tion,  left  the  colonies  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and 
gave  them  leisure  to  bring  to  the  test  of  practice  their 
notions  of  government.  The  corrupt  character,  and 
the  wants  of  Charles  II.,  drew  his  attention  away  from 
the  colonies.  He  seems  to  have  estimated  them  accord 
ing  to  the  money  he  could  get  for  them ;  and,  through 
one  motive  and  another,  he  gave  charters  for  Connecti 
cut,  Rhode  Island,  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  the 
Carolinas.  He  even  sold  Virginia,  for  <  <  a  consideration," 
to  Lord  Culpepper  for  thirty  years ;  but  the  resistance  of 
the  Virginians  annulled  the  grant  which  transferred  them 
like  serfs. 

All  these  different  circumstances  contributed  to  ren 
der  the  people  of  the  colonies  a  democratic  people. 
Everywhere  they  obtained  a  share  in  the  legislation, 
and  a  popular  assembly  in  every  colony  gave  them  a 
voice  in  their  government. 

It  would  be  idle  to  ask  what  connexion  the  popular 
colonization  now  detailed  had  with  the  future  fortunes  of 
our  republic.  The  connexion  is  apparent,  plain,  palpable. 


POPULAR   COLONIZATION.  161 

The  constitution  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  by  which  they  on 
the  deck  of  the  Mayflower  formed  themselves  into  "  a  civil 
body  politic,"  was  the  type,  the  original  model,  after 
which  the  various  colonial  governments  were  in  fact  fash 
ioned  ;  and  when  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  had  passed 
in  preparation,  the  same  democratic  idea  was  the  illumi 
nating  centre  of  that  national  organization  which  "we 
the  people  ordained  and  established."  Can  you  not  see 
the  little  pilgrim  constitution  pointing  its  religious  finger 
away  across  a  great  interval  of  time,  and  claiming  the 
kindred  of  parentage  with  its  lineal  child,  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  to  which  a  great  nation  in 
A.  D.  1789  stood  godfather? 

We  have  now  reviewed  the  several  attempts  which 
were  made  to  plant  and  govern  colonies  in  America. 
Your  attention  has  been  drawn  to  the  fact  that  the 
events  and  influences  connected  with  these  attempts  in 
all  their  diverse  ramifications,  were  prospective  contri 
vances  which  pointed  onwards  in  time  to  that  more 
grand  and  comprehensive  result,  which  is  developed  in 
our  national  organization.  Through  storm  and  tempest, 
through  sunshine  and  rain,  under  balmy  airs,  chilling 
frosts,  and  genial  showers,  the  thirteen  colonial  plantings 
grew  from  little  buds,  put  forth  boughs  and  blossoms,  and 
became  goodly  trees.  We  will  presently  see  how  they 
interlaced  their  branches,  and  formed  that  republican 
arbour  under  which  we  now  repose,  and  for  which  a 
benign  Providence  caused  them  to  be  planted. 

The  causes  of  the  American  Revolution  will  next 
engage  our  attention, 
o* 


LECTURE  VI. 
CAUSES  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

The  colonies  in  general  managed  their  internal  affairs — England  con 
trolled  their  external  affairs — Different  interpretations  of  the  con 
nexion  of  the  colonies  with  England,  as  given,  (1)  by  the  king ;  (2)  by 
the  parliament ;  (3)  by  the  colonists — I.  First  and  great  cause  of  the 
Revolution  to  be  found  in  the  commercial  policy  of  England  towards 
the  colonies — Commercial  system  of  Europe — Its  main  idea — Gives 
rise  to  the  colonial  system  of  Europe — England's  colonial  policy 
arising  from  the  commercial  system — Restrictions  on  the  colonies, 
(1)  in  favour  of  the  merchants  and  ship-owners;  (2)  in  favour  of  the 
manufacturers ;  (3)  in  favour  of  the  land-holders — Effect  on  the  co 
lonies — Reasons  of  their  submission  to  the  restrictions — II.  Second 
cause  of  the  Revolution  to  be  found  in  the  African  slave-trade — 
England's  participation  in  that  trade,  and  its  effect  on  the  colonies— 
Their  opposition  to  it  overruled — Motives  for  its  continuance — III. 
Third  cause  of  the  Revolution  found  in  the  destruction  of  the  colo 
nial  system  of  Europe — Commercial  wars  arise  among  the  European 
nations — Fall  of  the  colonial  system — Effect  on  the  colonies — IV. 
Fourth  cause  of  the  Revolution,  the  attempt  of  Great  Britain  to 
tax  the  colonies — Commencement  of  this  taxation — Reasons  of  tho 
colonists  for  resisting  it — Origin  of  taxation  in  England — Theory 
of  the  British  Empire,  as  entertained  in  America  —  V.  Minor 
grievances  leading  to  the  Revolution — Interference  with  the  colonial 
currency — Importation  of  criminals — Violation  of  chartered  rights— 
These  causes  all  centred  in  the  commercial  system — Their  long- 
continued  action — Their  final  effect  in  the  liberation  of  America. 

THE  causes  which  more  immediately  operated  in 
bringing  about  the  American  Revolution,  are  another 
series  of  prospective  contrivances  which  pointed  for 
ward  in  time  to  the  organization  of  our  national  re 
public.  These  causes  harmonized  in  their  results  with 
the  events  and  influences  in  our  colonial  history,  to  which 
I  have  already  directed  your  attention,  and  to  the  con- 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          163 

sideration  of  them  in  their  connexion  with  the  establish 
ment  of  our  government,  we  now  proceed. 

What  were  the  causes  of  the  American  Revolution  ? 
The  answer  to  this  question  will  form  the  subject  of  the 
present  lecture. 

We  have  already  given  you  an  idea  of  the  origin  of 
the  colonies,  and  of  the  various  attempts  that  were  made 
to  gain  the  ascendency  in  their  internal  government.  In 
these  attempts  the  foreign  corporations  failed ;  the  sha 
dows  of  royalty  and  feudal  nobility  remained  indeed  in 
the  royal  and  proprietary  plantations  of  America;  but 
these  shadows  had  little  influence  in  the  internal  govern 
ment  of  the  country.  The  people,  the  colonists — the 
populace,  properly  so  called — became  in  fact  their  own 
domestic  governors,  and  made  and  executed  their  own 
laws. 

But  if  in  their  internal  affairs  the  provinces  approxi 
mated  to  popular  government,  in  their  external  relations 
the  result  was  quite  different.  By  their  external  rela 
tions  I  mean  their  commerce,  their  affairs  with  other  na 
tions,  and  all  their  connexions  with  the  rest  of  the 
wrorld — especially  with  each  other,  and  with  England. 
In  these  external  relations  they  came  under  the  control 
of  England ;  for  they  not  only  had  the  English  king  for 
their  paramount  sovereign,  but  the  parliament,  in  con 
junction  with  the  king,  undertook  to  control,  and  did 
control,  their  commerce  and  other  foreign  affairs.  Fully 
to  comprehend  the  origin  and  extent  of  this  control,  wre 
must  keep  in  mind  a  clear  and  w^ell  denned  idea  of  the 
political  relations  of  the  colonies,  both  to  each  other  and 
to  England. 

With  each  other  they  had  no  connexion  except  what 
arose  from  proximity — from  fellowT-feeling — from  simi 
larity  of  situation — and  from  a  common  dependence 


164  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

upon  their  mother  country.  There  was,  in  fact,  no  po 
litical  cord  running  through  them  and  binding  them  to 
gether.  But  with  England  they  stood  in  a  connexion 
which  most  vitally  affected  them  in  all  their  hopes  and 
interests.  Let  us  inquire  a  little  into  the  nature  of  this 
connexion  as  it  was  interpreted,  first,  by  the  king, 
second,  by  the  English  parliament,  and  third,  by  the 
colonists  themselves ;  and  we  will  then  be  more  able  to 
form  a  correct  view  of  the  causes  of  that  contest  which 
separated  the  colonies  from  the  mother  country. 

(1.)  We  have  already  mentioned  that  King  James 
advanced  an  exclusive  claim  to  North  America.  He 
asserted  in  substance,  that  the  new  continent  being  dis 
covered  by  English  subjects,  belonged  to  the  crown,  and 
that  he,  being  by  Divine  right  the  wearer  of  that  crown, 
was  Lord  of  America,  and  entitled  to  dispose  of  it  as 
he  thought  proper ;  and  that  parliament  had  no  right  to 
intermeddle  in  the  matter.  His  son,  the  unfortunate 
Charles  I.,  inheriting  the  crown  and  kingly  notions  of  his 
father,  maintained  the  same  doctrine ;  and  regarded  the 
American  colonies  as  subjected  to  his  sole  control. 

(2.)  But  what  did  the  English  parliament  say  to  these 
pretensions  of  their  sovereign  ?  That  body  strenuously 
resisted  the  claim  which  the  crown  advanced  to  the  ex 
clusive  sovereignty  over  America,  and  avowed  their  own 
right  to  intermeddle  in  colonial  matters.  Their  preten 
sions  were  greatly  favoured  by  the  troubles  which  de 
stroyed  for  a  time  the  English  monarchy,  and  also  by 
the  republican  notions  which  prevailed  during  the  time 
of  the  Commonwealth.  After  the  restoration,  and  du 
ring  the  reign  of  the  weak  and  dissolute  Charles  II.,  the 
same  parliamentary  pretensions  wrere  advanced  ;  but  it 
was  not  until  the  aristocratic  revolution  of  A.  D.  1688, 
that  they  were  fully  acquiesced  in  by  the  king.  The 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          165 

parliament  which  at  the  opening  of  that  revolution  de 
posed  James  II.,  and  called  William  of  Orange  to  the 
throne,  annihilated  the  Divine  right  of  kings — at  least  of 
English  kings — and  cut  up  by  the  roots  the  royal  pre 
rogatives  which  had  grown  from  this  doctrine.  For  if 
kings  could  be  made  by  an  act  of  parliament,  as  was 
William  III. — if  they  derived  their  crown  from  men — 
from  lords  and  commons,  the  idea  of  a  Divine  right  to 
the  throne  wTas  a  figment.  This  truth  was  felt  after  the 
English  Revolution ;  and  the  men  who  had  handled  royalty 
without  gloves,  did  not  hesitate  to  assert  their  right  to 
interfere  in  all  matters  appertaining  to  the  English  crown. 
As  between  the  king  and  parliament,  therefore,  the  right 
of  the  latter  to  interfere  in  colonial  matters  was  decided  ; 
for  there  was  no  longer  the  idea  of  a  Divine  right,  to 
uphold  the  king  in  his  pretensions  to  exclusive  sove 
reignty  in  any  affair  concerning  the  crown.  Accord 
ingly,  from  the  accession  of  William  III.,  parliament, 
without  opposition  from  the  crown,  intermeddled  in  the 
external  affairs  of  the  American  provinces.  The  extent 
of  their  interference  will  be  presently  exhibited. 

(3.)  But  how  did  the  colonists  themselves  interpret 
their  connexion  with  England  ?  They  rather  coincided 
with  the  royal  than  with  the  parliamentary  interpretation 
of  that  connexion.  They  acknowledged  the  paramount 
sovereignty  of  the  king,  and  acquiesced  in  the  doctrine 
that  he  was  their  feudal  lord,  and  they  his  liege  men 
and  subjects.  But  they  very  significantly  asked  what 
parliament  had  to  do  with  them,  or  they  with  parliament? 
According  to  their  notions,  the  parliament,  whether 
subordinate  to  the  king,  or  superior  to  him,  was,  in  re 
gard  to  the  extent  of  its  legislative  authority,  merely  his 
council  to  aid  him  in  governing  the  realm  of  England. 
If  they  did  indeed  admit  the  interference  of  that  body, 


166  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

within  what  limits  would  its  interference  be  circum 
scribed  ?  On  what  subjects  would  an  act  of  parliament 
bind  them  ?  or  ought  it  to  bind  them  in  any  case  ? 
These  questions  contained  the  marrow  of  a  daring  re 
sistance,  and  were  agitated  along  a  whole  century  of 
colonial  history.  It  is  a  little  singular  that,  in  discussing 
these  questions,  the  colonies  employed  nearly  the  same 
language  which  had  been  used  at  an  earlier  day  by  the 
Divine-right  kings,  to  maintain  their  exclusive  sovereignty 
over  America.  They,  indeed,  coincided  with  the  old  Stu 
art  kings  in  maintaining  that  the  English  parliament  had, 
of  right,  nothing  to  do  with  America.  Such  were  the 
interpretations  of  the  connexion  of  the  provinces  with 
England,  as  given  by  the  Stuart  kings,  by  the  parliament, 
and  by  the  early  colonists  themselves.  Let  us  see  the 
results  of  these  incongruous  theories,  as  developed  in 
action.  And  as  these  results  operated  ultimately  to  de 
stroy  the  sovereignty  of  the  English  kings  over  our 
country,  we  may  group  them  together,  and  recognise 
in  them  the  real  causes  of  the  American  Revolution. 

What  were  these  causes  ? 

I.  The  first  and  great  cause  of  the  Revolution  is  to 
be  found  in  the  commercial  policy  which  England  pur 
sued  towards  the  plantations. 

The  colonial  policy  of  England,  to  be  correctly  ap 
preciated,  must  be  viewed  in  its  connexion  with  the 
commercial  system  of  Europe.  And  what  were  the 
elements  of  that  system  ?  We  may  briefly  say  that  it 
was  a  system  circulating  round  one  idea ;  and  this  idea 
was,  that  gold  and  silver  constituted  the  wealth  of  a  na 
tion.  That  a  nation  may  accumulate  gold  and  silver, 
its  exports  must  exceed  its  imports ;  it  must  sell  more 
than  it  buys ;  and  the  amount  of  its  sales  over  its  pur 
chases,  economically  called  the  balance  of  trade,  will  be 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          167 

received  in  cash.  The  money  thus  drawn  into  a  country 
is  the  nation's  gain,  and  constitutes  its  real  wealth.  This 
was  the  main  idea  of  the  commercial  system,  and  it 
might  have  been  engraved  on  the  rim  of  a  shilling ;  for 
it  was  all  comprised  in  the  single  imperative, 

"  Get  gold  and  silver!" 

This  doctrine  is  long  ago  exploded ;  for  a  barrel  of 
flour  or  a  bushel  of  potatoes  are  as  real  and  substantial 
wealth  as  a  wedge  of  silver  or  gold.  But  the  nations 
of  Europe  a  century  ago  did  not  think  so  ;  their  motto, 
nay,  their  entire  commercial  creed,  was 

"  Get  gold  and  silver — honestly  if  you  can — but  get 
gold  and  silver." 

The  practice  under  this  creed  very  materially  affected 
the  emigrants  of  the  several  European  nations ;  for  when 
the  idea  of  colonization  came  to  be  placed  in  connexion 
with  the  main  idea  of  the  commercial  system,  colonies, 
it  was  thought,  might  be  made  to  administer  greatly  to 
the  wealth  of  the  parent  country.  This  they  might  do 
either  by  consuming  the  articles  of  home  produce,  and 
paying  for  them  in  money,  or  by  furnishing,  at  a  cheap 
rate,  articles  of  traffic  whose  exportation  would  bring 
back  gold  and  silver.  In  each  case,  the  mother  country 
could  only  gain  its  end  by  assuming  the  entire  control 
of  their  commerce. 

To  create  a  nation  for  the  purpose  of  trading  to  it, 
was  certainly  a  business-like  transaction  ;  yet  this,  with 
a  few  modifications,  was  the  object  which  several  of  the 
European  powers  had  in  view  in  their  attempts  at  colo 
nization.  But  from  whatever  motives  the  colonies  from 
any  nation  originated,  it  was  evident  that  a  monopoly 
of  their  entire  commerce  by  the  mother  country  would 
increase  her  wealth.  Such  at  least  was  the  commercial 
logic  of  Europe — a  logic  which  has  had  a  most  exten- 


168  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

sive  influence  upon  the  happiness,  enterprise,  and  whole 
destiny  of  the  human  race.  For,  this  reasoning,  and 
these  views  of  wealth,  were  everywhere  adopted  just  at 
the  time  when  the  New  World,  bursting  from  the  long 
concealment  of  ages,  was  revealing  to  the  eager,  aching 
gaze  of  millions,  its  mineral  treasures,  its  aboriginal  cities, 
its  luxuriant  forests,  its  vast  plains,  rugged  mountains, 
and  rich  valleys.  But  instead  of  leaving  this  exuberant 
continent  to  the  men  who  might  plant  themselves  upon 
it — instead  of  giving  them  liberty  to  cultivate  it  for  their 
own  benefit,  and  to  reap  the  harvest  which  they  might 
sow  upon  its  soil — instead  of  allowing  them  to  enjoy 
the  fruits  which  nature  here  poured  forth  from  her  boun 
tiful  lap,  their  enterprise,  the  sweat  of  their  brows,  and 
the  marrow  of  their  bones  were  sought,  to  be  appro 
priated  to  the  pitiful  service  of  amassing  the  precious 
metals  in  the  Old  World.  The  riches  of  America  were 
sacrificed  at  the  shrine  of  an  idle  theory ;  and  the  human 
race,  instead  of  expanding  its  arms  on  the  Western  Con 
tinent  writh  renewed  energy,  remained  here  for  genera 
tions  subservient  to  the  supposed  interests  of  govern 
ments  and  privileged  classes  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic. 

How  did  the  European  nations  so  long  maintain  this 
power  in  America  ?  They  preserved  it  mainly  by  the 
fact,  that  they  were  all  engaged  in  the  same  system  of 
measures  towards  the  New  World.  In  a  few  years 
after  the  voyage  of  Columbus,  Spanish  cities,  towns, 
and  villas,  studded  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific, 
and  soon  spread  over  the  immense  plains  of  South  Ame 
rica  ;  but  Spain  assumed  the  control  of  their  trade  in 
order  to  increase  the  precious  metals  at  home.  Holland 
having  delivered  herself  from  the  bondage  of  her  ancient 
masters,  sent  her  enterprising  people  to  the  coast  of 
Africa,  to  the  shores  of  South  America,  and  to  the  valley 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.         169 

of  the  Hudson,  and  then  she  seized  upon  their  com 
merce,  in  order  to  accumulate  gold  and  silver  at  home. 
France  planted  her  lilies  in  the  East,  on  the  islands  of 
the  Indian  Ocean,  in  the  West  Indies,  along  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  When 
she  had  established  her  colonies,  she  too  monopolized 
their  commerce,  in  order  to  accumulate  gold  and  silver 
at  home.  The  colonial  policy  of  England  conformed  to 
that  of  her  neighbours ;  and  she  sought  to  monopolize 
the  commerce  of  her  people  in  America,  in  order  to  ac 
cumulate  gold  and  silver  at  home.  Thus  all  Europe  was 
engaged  in  the  same  rigorous  system — a  system  whose 
most  characterizing  feature  was  an  exclusive  monopoly 
of  colonial  commerce  ;  and  the  same  policy  \vas  pursued 
towards  plantations  in  the  West  Indies,  on  the  Spanish 
Main,  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  on  the  James  River,  on 
the  Hudson,  on  the  Delaware,  and  in  New  England. 

We  notice  this  general  colonial  policy  of  Europe, 
because  all  these  nations  being  interested  each  in  main 
taining  the  same  exclusive  system,  were  all  in  fact  as 
sociated  in  avowing  the  right  of  a  parent  country  to  ex 
ercise  an  unlimited  control  over  its  colonies.  Hence,  so 
long  as  this  rigorous  system  received  the  general  appro 
bation  of  Europe,  the  colonies  of  no  one  country  could 
reasonably  hope  to  succeed  in  freeing  themselves  from 
the  oppression  of  the  parent  nation.  For,  all  the  nations 
being  interested  in  the  same  policy,  no  one  w^ould  be 
willing  to  aid  a  rebellion  in  the  colonies  of  another,  lest 
by  so  doing  it  should  endanger  its  own  foreign  posses 
sions.  This  remark  will  in  part  explain  why  the  Ame 
rican  colonies  so  long  acquiesced  in  the  monopoly  of 
their  commerce  by  England. 

We  have  stated  in  general  terms,  that  the  American 
provinces  were  required  by  English  legislation  to  sell  in 
p 


170  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

England,  and  buy  in  England.  To  understand  the 
nature  and  extent  of  these  restrictions,  let  us  detail  a  few 
particulars.  The  arguments  in  England  urged  in  favour 
of  assuming  the  control  of  this  commerce,  were  based 
on  the  general  doctrine  of  the  commercial  system  ;  but 
the  several  classes  of  Merchants,  Shippers,  Manufac 
turers,  and  Land-owners,  desirous  of  increasing  their 
own  immediate  gains,  became  clamorous  for  a  monopoly 
of  the  most,  stringent  and  exclusive  kind,  and  put  in 
their  claims  for  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  this 
trade. 

(1.)  First  came  the  mercantile  and  shipping  interest. 
To  favour  this  interest,  the  colonies  were  compelled  to  sell 
in  England,  and  buy  in  England.  Articles  of  traffic,  with 
an  exception  to  be  presently  noticed,  were  forbidden  to  be 
shipped  from  America  to  any  ports  except  those  of 
England.  No  merchandise  was  to  be  sent  from  Massa 
chusetts,  or  Virginia,  or  Maryland,  to  France,  or  Ger 
many,  or  Holland.  The  tobacco,  the  indigo,  the  cotton, 
and  the  iron  of  the  American  plantations,  if  shipped  at  all, 
must  be  shipped  to  England.  There  was  the  centre  of 
all  their  commerce.  The  colonies  were  likewise  prohi 
bited  from  purchasing  their  foreign  merchandise  at  any 
other  markets  than  those  of  the  parent  country.  If  a  piece 
of  silk  from  France,  or  of  linen  from  Holland,  was  wanted 
in  Pennsylvania  or  Massachusetts;  it  could  be  obtained 
through  English  merchants,  or  through  smugglers,  but  in 
no  other  legitimate  way.  The  English  merchants  thus 
obtained  a  double  monopoly  ;  they  had  the  exclusive  pri 
vilege  of  purchasing  the  colonial  produce,  and  the  exclu 
sive  right  of  supplying  them  in  turn  with  merchandise. 
To  render  the  monopoly  more  secure,  the  Dutch  and 
French  merchants  were  excluded  from  the  colonies. 
They  could  neither  be  agents  nor  principals  there. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.         171 

Provision  was  next  made  that  the  colonies  should  not 
trade  with  each  other.  This  was  for  the  benefit  of  the 
English  shipping  interest ;  for  the  object  of  the  provision 
was  that  the  intercolonial  commerce  should  become  the 
perquisite  of  English  ship-owners.  A  Puritan  of  Mas 
sachusetts  could  not  enjoy  a  quid  of  James  River  to 
bacco,  except  by  paying  an  English  trader  for  its  im 
portation.  The  Americans,  it  is  true,  might  own  ships, 
but  they  were  restricted  to  a  direct  trade  to  the  markets 
of  the  mother  country. 

By  these  provisions  England  became  the  centre  of 
her  colonial  trade ;  and  it  was  represented  that  such 
commercial  regulations  would  make  money  accumulate 
there.  They  did  accumulate  it  there — in  the  pockets  of 
the  merchants  and  ship-owners. 

(2.)  But  a  second  interest  appeared;  the  English 
manufacturers  desired  a  slice  of  the  colonial  pudding. 
To  project  this  interest,  the  provinces  were  prohibited 
from  engaging  in  the  manufacture  of  the  finer  or  more 
minute  fabrics.  They  might  build  furnaces  and  make 
pig-iron,  or  they  might  grow  wool  or  flax,  or  maple- 
sugar,  for  these  were  raw  materials ;  but  they  were  not 
permitted  to  make  a  chisel,  a  saw,  a  pair  of  scissors,  or 
a  penknife,  for  these  finer  articles  could  be  better  manu 
factured  in  England,  and  would  make  money  centre 
there.  In  the  intensity  of  this  restrictive  system,  the 
colonists  were  not  permitted  to  manufacture  even  their 
own  wearing  apparel;  the  privilege  of  making  such 
articles  belonged  exclusively  to  the  manufacturer  in  Eng 
land.  It  was  directed  that  the  crude  materials  should 
be  carried  to  England,  and  manufactured  articles  brought 
back  in  return  —  in  brief,  they  were  envied  a  loom,  a 
shuttle,  a  forge,  or  a  smith-shop  ;  and  grave  statesmen 
framed  acts  of  parliament  against  spinning-wheels  in 


172  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

America.  Traffic  between  one  another  had  been  pro 
hibited  for  the  benefit  of  the  English  ship-owner ;  and 
the  English  manufacturer  obtained  a  similar  protection 
in  the  parliamentary  legislation  that  forbade  woollen 
goods,  woollen  hats,  and  similar  fabrics,  to  be  taken 
from  one  colony  to  another. 

(3.)  But  a  third  interest  appeared.  The  English 
land-owners  put  in  a  claim  to  be  protected.  They  de 
manded  that  grain  and  other  produce  of  an  English  farm 
should  not  be  brought  into  England  from  the  colonies, 

O  O  ' 

without  paying  a  heavy  tax  or  duty.  The  demand  was 
granted ;  and  corn-laws  were  enacted  to  protect  land 
owners  from  the  competition  of  the  provinces.  The 
farmer  from  Pennsylvania  or  Maryland  could  not  enter 
an  English  port  with  his  wheat  or  flour,  without  paying 
a  heavy  tax  for  the  privilege.  The  English  land-owner 
was  the  gainer  ;  for  the  American  produce  which  inter 
fered  with  his  own  was  in  reality  excluded  from  English 
ports. 

By  such  provisions  the  English  merchants,  ship 
owners,  manufacturers,  and  land-owners  were  protected, 
to  the  great,  sacrifice  of  colonial  interests.  There  were, 
however,  some  articles  of  foreign  produce  whose  intro 
duction  into  England  would  interfere  with  some  one  of 
the  interests  we  have  now  mentioned.  These  articles 
the  colonists  were  permitted  to  carry  to  other  parts  of 
Europe  ;  but  even  here  there  were  restrictions  injurious 
as  well  as  irritating.  Run  your  eye  along  the  map  of 
Western  Europe  till  you  come  to  the  northwestern  corner 
of  Spain,  where  the  Bay  of  Biscay  loses  itself  in  the 
Atlantic  Ocean :  there  is  Cape  Finisterre.  To  ports 
south  of  that  cape  the  American  merchants  might  export 
their  grain,  lumber,  fish,  and  other  articles  which  were 
opposed  to  the  different  interests  in  England.  Why 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.         173 

limit  them  to  the  south  of  Cape  Finisterre  ?  Because 
the  Spaniards  and  residents  along  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  did  not  manufacture  articles  which  inter 
fered  with  English  interests. 

Such  was  the  colonial  system  of  England.  What 
the  merchant  left  the  manufacturer  devoured,  and  what 
the  manufacturer  left  the  shipper  and  land-owner  de 
voured  ;  and  what  they  all  eschewed  might  be  shipped 
to  ports  south  of  Cape  Finisterre. 

A  Chinese  lady,  with  her  foot  squeezed  to  the  dimen 
sions  of  a  proper  sized  toe,  or  a  papoose  with  his  head 
shingled  into  an  oblong  shape,  are  not  subjected  to  more 
unnatural  pressure  than  were  the  colonies  by  these  re 
strictive  regulations — and  yet  the  provisions  above  enu 
merated  were  enacted  into  a  system  by  the  close  of  the 
reign  of  William  III.,  and  for  three-quarters  of  a  cen 
tury  were  perseveringly  maintained  by  the  English  go 
vernment.  The  beginning  of  the  system  wras  in  the 
celebrated  Navigation  Act,  passed  during  the  protectorate 
of  Cromwell.  On  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  in  A.  D. 
1660,  many  stringent  additions  were  made  to  the  legis 
lative  enactments  respecting  the  colonies ;  and  all  their 
interests  were,  on  the  part  of  England,  intrusted  to  a 
Board  of  trade.  But  it  was  not  until  the  aristocratic  re 
volution  of  A.  D.  1688  had  annihilated  the  power  of 
the  Stuart  kings,  that  this  illiberal  system  was  perfected. 

Do  you  ask  why  the  colonies  submitted  to  such  op 
pression  ?  Was  not  such  a  system  more  grievous  than 
the  taxation  which  was  attempted  in  later  times  by  the 
stamp  act,  the  tea  bill,  and  their  congeners  ? 

There  were  two  reasons  which  induced  them  to  sub 
mit  to  such  a  monopoly.  The  first  was,  that  the  policy  of 
England  was  the  policy  pursued  by  all  the  other  Eu 
ropean  nations  towards  their  colonies.  This  condition 


174  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

of  things  rendered  their  resistance  unavailing ;  for  so 
long  as  all  Europe  was  leagued  in  support  of  the  same 
grinding  system,  it  would  have  been  idle  in  the  infant 
American  colonies  to  resist  its  oppression.  The  other 
nations  of  Europe,  instead  of  aiding  them  in  their  oppo 
sition,  would  have  been  impelled  by  every  motive  of 
interest  to  help  England  to  punish  such  an  evil  example. 
The  second  reason  which  induced  them  so  long  to 
submit  to  these  grievances,  is  to  be  found  in  the  ideas 
they  entertained  of  their  relation  to  England.  They  ac 
knowledged  their  subjection  to  the  English  crown ;  and 
they  admitted  that  the  regulation  of  commerce  was  a 
royal  prerogative.  Rules  of  trade,  if  made  by  the  king, 
\vould  therefore  have  been  within  the  limits  of  his  au 
thority  ;  and  the  process  by  which  similar  regulations 
came  to  be  made  by  parliament,  disposed  them  quietly 
to  acquiesce  in  the  commercial  legislation  of  that  body  ; 
for,  by  the  changes  which,  soon  after  the  commencement 
of  American  colonization,  took  place  in  the  English  go 
vernment,  some  of  the  royal  prerogatives  either  came  to 
be  exercised  by  parliament,  or  were  controlled  by  its 
votes.  This  occurred  in  an  especial  manner  at  the  ac 
cession  of  Cromwell ;  when  the  parliament,  among  other 
royal  prerogatives,  seized  upon  the  power  of  regulating 
commerce.  At  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  but  more 
particularly  after  the  revolution  of  A.  D.  1688,  this  as 
sumption  of  regal  authority  became  well  confirmed  ;  and 
the  English  government,  composed  of  the  king  and  par 
liament,  continued  to  do,  in  commercial  matters,  what 
in  earlier  times  the  king  himself  had  done.  But  the  co 
lonists,  rather  adhering  to  the  old  theory  of  the  English 
government,  and  regarding  the  laws  affecting  their  trade 
as  made  by  their  sovereign,  though  they  were  in  fact 
made  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  parliament,  con- 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.         175 

sidered  the  restrictions  upon  their  commerce  to  be  legal, 
but  very  oppressive.  Hence,  the  commercial  regula 
tions  above  recited,  though  they  make  a  figure  in 
twenty-nine  acts  of  parliament,  were  by  the  Americans 
regarded  as  the  work  of  their  sovereign  alone.  Ac 
cordingly,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  singles  out 
the  king  as  the  great  sinner,  and  sets  forth  that  one  of 
the  injuries  he  inflicted  upon  us  was, 

"  The  cutting  off  of  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the 
world." 

This  "cutting  off"  had  been  commenced  nearly  a 
century  before  the  penning  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  ;  but  on  account  of  the  two  reasons  just  men 
tioned,  it  had  been  with  grumbling  and  resistance  ac 
quiesced  in  for  generations.  The  commercial  monopoly 
and  the  restrictions  which  we  have  now  detailed,  con 
tained  the  seeds  of  our  independence  ;  for,  being  a  system 
of  oppression,  its  natural  effect  was  to  produce  a  spirit  of 
deep-rooted  dissatisfaction.  This  spirit  it  in  fact  did 
produce ;  and  our  colonial  history,  through  a  hundred 
years,  teems  with  manifestations  of  discontent  and  with 
murmurings,  and  is  full  of  intimations  that  when  the 
oppressed  child  grew  strong,  it  would  free  itself  from 
the  shackles  which  in  its  youth  it  had  worn  with  so  much 
impatience. 

In  forming  our  estimate  of  these  regulations,  we  must 
not  forget  that  private  interest,  under  the  cloak  of  public 
good,  dictated  the  entire  system  of  colonial  restriction. 
The  merchant,  the  ship-owner,  the  manufacturer,  and 
the  land-holder,  seized  upon  the  popular  idea  of  ac 
cumulating  gold  and  silver  in  England,  and  used  it  to 
promote  their  particular  interests.  When  any  one  or  all 
of  these  classes  desired  an  increased  share  of  the  colonial 
spoils,  they  put  forward  the  public  good  as  their  motive, 


176  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

and  asked  an  act  of  parliament  to  protect  the  labourer, 
and  enrich  England.  But  the  English  government  gained 
nothing  by  the  monopoly.  Its  power  was  used  by  mer 
chants  and  others,  to  enrich  themselves  at  the  expense 
of  the  American  plantations ;  and  the  subjects  of  the 
king  who  were  in  England,  invoked  and  obtained  his 
aid  to  drive  hard  bargains  with  his  subjects  in  America. 
They  obtained  this  aid,  because  they  succeeded  in  per 
suading  the  king  and  parliament  that  it  was  for  the  public 
benefit  to  protect  English  merchants  and  manufacturers 
at  the  expense  of  the  colonies. 

I  have  said  that  the  English  government  received 
neither  revenues  nor  benefit  from  this  oppressive  system; 
all  the  benefits  went  to  the  protected  classes  in  England. 
They  in  reality  directed,  and  we  may  say  dictated  the 
colonial  policy  of  the  English  government.  Hence, 
when,  on  the  passage  of  the  stamp  act,  the  provinces 
threatened  rebellion,  these  protected  classes,  fearing  the 
loss  of  their  monopoly  of  the  western  trade,  interfered, 
and  procured  the  repeal  of  that  obnoxious  act.  No  man 
who  reads  Burke's  description  of  the  influences  which 
procured  that  repeal,  can  hesitate  to  conclude  that  the 
English  merchants  and  manufacturers  directed,  at  that 
time,  the  colonial  policy  of  the  British  government. 
This,  however,  they  did,  as  we  have  said,  under  the 
pretext  of  the  public  good — the  public  good  both  of 
England  and  the  plantations.  Such  examples  of  anx 
iety  for  the  general  welfare  are  frequently  exhibited. 
It  is  said  that  when  a  certain  sovereign  came  from 
Germany  to  take  possession  of  the  British  throne,  not 
being  an  Addison  in  the  English  language,  he  told  the 
people,  "Gentlemen,  I  have  come  for  your  goods,  for 
all  your  goods."  A  solicitude  similar  in  degree  per 
vaded  the  protected  classes  of  England  ;  and  their  Ian- 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          177 

guage  to  the  colonies  through  a  hundred  years  was, 
"  We  are  anxious  for  your  goods — for  all  your  goods." 

If  the  English  government  gained  nothing  by  this 
restrictive  policy,  neither  did  the  English  labourer.  It 
increased  the  price  of  colonial  produce  to  the  poorer 
classes  in -England;  but  its  most  grievous  legacy  was 
the  corn  laws,  which  were  enacted  for  the  protection  of 
the  English  land-owner,  and  which  were  the  price  for 
which  the  landed  interest  consented  to  aid  the  other  in 
terests  in  taking  very  good  care  of  America.  These  laws, 
now  vanishing,  have  long  been  squeezing  the  marrow 
from  the  bones,  and  the  sweat  from  the  brow  of  the 
English  labourer.  Their  origin  may  be  found  in  the  co 
alition  of  the  mercantile,  manufacturing,  shipping,  and 
agricultural  interests,  who  entered  into  «  a  solemn  league 
and  covenant"  to  aid  each  other  in  getting  exclusive 
possession  of  the  commerce  of  the  American  colonies. 
Nor  was  this  commerce  a  small  item  in  the  trade  of  the 
mother  country.  In  A.  D.  1720,  the  exports  from 
England  to  the  colonies  amounted  to  about  twro  millions 
and  a  half  of  dollars,  and  employed  about  one-third  of 
the  shipping  of  that  nation.  Forty  years  later,  in  A.D. 
1760,  it  amounted  to  about  twenty-eight  millions  of  dol 
lars.  In  all  this  traffic,  there  was  an  unceasing  effort  to 
export  to  the  colonies  more  than  was  imported  from  them, 
in  order  that  there  might  be  a  continual  balance  of  trade 
due  to  the  mother  country,  the  payment  of  which  would 
draw  across  the  ocean  their  gold  and  silver.  In  fact, 
the  precious  metals  did  disappear  from  America,  and 
their  place  was  supplied  by  paper  money. 

The  consequences  of  this  exclusive  commerce  were 
soon  felt,  and  might  be  briefly  told  by  saying  that  it  en 
riched  the  merchants,  manufacturers,  and  land-owners 
of  England,  and  injured  the  British  government,  the 


178  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

British  labourers,  and  the  provinces.  To  the  latter  it  was 
the  source  of  grievous  evils ;  but  these  evils  became,  in 
the  general  movements  of  the  world,  the  means  of  ex 
citing,  animating,  and  rousing  up  an  injured  people  to 
assert  their  independence. 

II.  A  second  cause  of  the  American  Revolution  is  to 
be  found  in  the  conduct  of  England  in  the  African  slave- 
trade.  This  grievance  was  closely  connected  with  the 
commercial  system  just  considered ;  and,  in  certain  points 
of  view,  made  part  of  that  system.  Let  us  briefly  ex 
amine  how  the  African  slave-trade  became  connected 
with  the  fortunes  of  our  country  and  contributed  to 
American  independence. 

In  A.  D.  1620,  a  Dutch  ship  sailed  into  the  Chesa 
peake,  and  landed  a  cargo  of  slaves  on  the  James  River. 
From  that  time  to  the  present,  negro  slaves  have  been 
found  in  North  America.  During  the  first  century  of 
colonial  life,  a  few  negroes  were  from  time  to  time  in 
troduced  into  the  plantations.  But  the  eighteenth  century 
opened  with  events  deeply  affecting  the  future  fortunes 
of  the  black  race,  and  strangely  connecting  slaves  with 
the  career  of  popular  government.  By  the  beginning 
of  that  century,  the  once  mighty  empire  of  Spain  had 
grown  weak.  The  line  of  her  ancient  monarchs  was 
drawing  to  an  end,  in  the  person  of  a  feeble  and  dying 
sovereign  ;  and  the  war  of  the  Spanish  succession  lashed 
the  elements  of  strife  into  a  foam.  Louis  XIV.  wished 
to  place  his  grandson  on  the  vacant  throne  of  Spain  ;  but 
England  and  Germany  resisted  his  wish,  and  all  Europe 
was  thrown  into  the  uproar  of  a  ten  years'  war.  When 
it  ended,  England  obtained,  as  her  share  of  the  spoils,  a 
magnificent  prize.  Her  prize  was  the  monopoly  of  the 
slave-trade.  By  the  treaty  of  peace  at  Utrecht,  in  A.  D. 
1713,  she  gained  the  exclusive  privilege  of  bringing 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.         179 

African  slaves  into  the  Spanish  West  Indies,  and  to 
Spanish  America.  Immediately  companies  were  char 
tered,  ships  built,  and  for  thirty  years  England  was  the 
active  slave-merchant  of  the  world.  Her  ships,  and  her 
ships  exclusively,  visited  the  African  coast  for  slaves; 
and  an  immense  harvest  of  profit  was  reaped  from  the 
unholy  traffic.  The  western  shores  of  Africa  every 
where  bore  witness  to  the  activity  of  her  traders,  and 
with  British  manufactures  the  Christian  nation  purchased 
slaves  from  the  black  pagan  kings  on  the  African  coast. 
These  slaves  were  shipped  to  the  West  Indies,  to  the 
Spanish  Main,  and  to  the  North  American  colonies. 
Their  importation  into  the  plantations  was  found  a  profit 
able  mercantile  speculation  ;  and  the  English  slave-ships 
entered  with  their  cargoes  into  every  port  on  the  Atlantic 
south  of  Maine. 

But  the  provinces  at  an  early  day  dreaded  the  intro 
duction  of  negroes.  They  tried  at  first  to  legislate  upon 
the  subject,  and  passed  laws  prohibiting  their  importa 
tion  ;  but  slaves  were  an  article  of  commerce,  and  Bri 
tain  had  undertaken  to  regulate  the  trade  of  America. 
The  anti-slavery  legislation  they  attempted  consequently 
came  in  collision  with  the  legislation  of  the  mother 
country,  and  was  nullified.  Repulsed  here,  they  tried 
remonstrance  upon  the  subject;  but  what  did  English 
merchants  and  manufacturers  care  for  a  colonial  re 
monstrance  ?  It  was  opposed  to  their  interests,  and  was 
not  worth  the  paper  on  which  it  was  written.  The  en 
during  Quaker  might  talk  of  the  light  of  God  in  the  soul, 
and  assert  that  man  was  of  divine  right  free  ;  the  Puritan 
might  remonstrate  against  trafficking  in  the  image  of  his 
Creator ;  and  the  planter  of  the  south  might  send  his 
petition  to  the  throne,  that  he  might  not  be  overrun  by 
negro  slaves ;  but  all  these  petitions,  remonstrances,  and 


180  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

sublime  truths,  were  unheard  and  unheeded  in  the  on 
ward  thundering  of  the  great  Juggernaut  of  commercial 
interest.  English  merchants,  counting  their  money,  and 
eating  their  beef  and  pudding,  thought  only  of  making 
yellow  guineas  out  of  black  Africans. 

The  colonists  were,  however,  strenuous  in  their  op 
position  to  the  slave-trade,  notwithstanding  their  legis 
lation  had  been  disregarded,  and  their  remonstrances 
treated  with  neglect.  The  Penns  tried  to  abolish  slavery, 
and  prevent  the  introduction  of  negroes  into  the  province 
of  Pennsylvania ;  but  the  attempt  failed.  Oglethorpe 
excluded  slaves  from  Georga,  till  the  British  government 
ordered  their  introduction.  Virginia  persevered  in  her 
opposition;  "but,"  says  Mr.  Madison,  "the  British 
government  constantly  checked  the  attempts  of  Virginia 
to  put  a  stop  to  this  infernal  traffic."  South  Carolina, 
like  Virginia,  tried  to  close  its  ports  against  slave-ships  ; 
but  South  Carolina  had  recognised  the  right  of  the  Bri 
tish  government  to  regulate  colonial  commerce,  and  her 
resistance  to  the  slave-trade  was  ineffectual.  These  ef 
forts  did  not  set  bounds  to  the  dark  current  which  inte 
rest  caused  to  flow  from  the  African  coast.  The  entire 
commercial  policy  of  England  in  reference  to  this  trade 
may  be  announced  in  a  single  sentence,  as  follows : 

<• i  We  cannot  allow  the  colonies  to  check  or  in  any 
degree  discourage  a  traffic  so  beneficial  to  the  English 
nation." 

So  said  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  in  A.  D.  1777,  when 
the  American  jewel  was  falling  from  the  English  crown. 
His  earlship  felt  the  passion  which  urged  the  negro  upon 
our  country,  and  cleared  at  a  bound  all  the  hedges  and 
obstructions  raised  by  the  people. 

But,  beside  this  commercial  motive  for  forcing  the 
negro  upon  the  provinces,  there  were  political  consider- 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.         181 

ations  which  were  powerfully  operative  in  bringing  about 
the  same  result.  "Negroes,"  said  the  British  states 
men,  "  negroes  cannot  become  republicans ;  they  will 
be  a  power  in  our  hands  to  restrain  the  unruly  colonists." 
Here  was  the  germ  of  the  opposition  of  the  British  go 
vernment  to  a  cessation  of  the  slave-trade.  Mercantile 
interest,  without  doubt,  suggested  the  argument ;  but 
the  government,  by  adoption,  made  the  suggestion  its 
rule  of  action,  and  slave-ships  continued  to  visit  every 
port  from  Rhode  Island  to  Florida.  The  colonies  were 
thus,  kept  as  an  open  market  for  slaves,  both  for  a  com 
mercial  and  political  reason  —  the  commercial  reason 
was,  rich  profits  ;  the  political  reason  was,  that  negroes 
could  not  "become  republicans."  These  two  powerful 
motives  kept  the  whole  sea-coast  open  to  the  slave-ships ; 
and  it  was  not  until  the  assembling  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  that  the 
aggregate  opinion  of  the  country  was  announced  in  an 
effective  manner.  Among  the  first  transactions  of  that 
body  was  an  act  which  forbade  the  introduction  of  slaves. 
The  irritation  of  the  provinces  in  this  matter  is  ener 
getically  set  forth  in  a  clause  introduced  by  Mr.  Jefferson 
into  the  original  draft  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  and  which  reads  as  follows : 

"  He  (the  King  of  Great  Britain)  has  waged  cruel 
war  against  human  nature  itself,  violating  its  most  sacred 
rights  of  life  and  liberty  in  the  persons  of  a  distant  peo 
ple  who  never  offended  him,  captivating  and  carrying 
them  into  slavery  in  another  hemisphere,  or  to  incur 
miserable  death  in  their  transportation  thither.  This 
piratical  warfare,  the  opprobrium  of  infidel  powers,  is 
the  warfare  of  the  Christian  king  of  Great  Britain.  De 
termined  to  keep  open  a  market  where  men  should  be 
bought  and  sold,  he  has  prostituted  his  negative  for  sup- 
Q 


182  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

pressing  every  legislative  attempt  to  restrain  this  exe 
crable  commerce.  And  that  this  assemblage  of  horrors 
might  want  no  fact  of  distinguished  dye,  he  is  now  ex 
citing  those  very  people  to  rise  in  arms  among  us,  and 
purchase  that  liberty,  of  which  he  has  deprived  them,  by 
murdering  the  people  upon  whom  he  has  obtruded  them : 
thus  paying  off  former  crimes  committed  against  the 
liberties  of  one  people,  by  crimes  which  he  urges  them 
to  commit  against  the  lives  of  another.'' 

This  clause,  for  reasons  affecting  Georgia  and  the 
Carolinas,  was,  with  several  others,  stricken  out  of  the 
Declaration  by  Congress,  before  that  instrument  was 
signed ;  but  it  is  a  faithful  exposition  of  the  opinion  of 
the  provinces  upon  this  subject.  They  knew  as  well  as 
statesmen  in  England  that  negroes  could  not  here  "be 
come  republicans ;"  and  their  knowledge  of  the  mo 
tives  which  induced  the  British  government  to  persevere 
in  bringing  slaves  into  America,  rendered  them  the  more 
averse  to  their  importation. 

The  grievances  from  this  source  co-operated  with 
others  to  drive  them  finally  to  an  assertion  of  their  in 
dependence.  I  mentioned  that  the  slave-trade  origi 
nated  in  the  commercial  system,  that  prolific  parent  of 
many  evils.  To  the  same  common  origin  may  be  re 
ferred  the  next  cause  of  the  Revolution,  to  which  we 
now  proceed. 

III.  The  third  cause  of  the  American  Revolution  is 
found  in  the  decay  and  destruction  of  the  colonial  sys 
tem  of  Europe. 

We  have  seen  that  this  severe  system  was  the  le 
gitimate  child  of  the  commercial  system,  and  was  one 
of  the  agencies  by  which  the  several  nations  of  Europe 
endeavoured  to  accumulate  gold  and  silver.  The  na 
tions  which  were  principally  interested  in  it,  were  France, 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          183 

England,  and  Spain,  who  each  sought  to  increase  her  own 
power  and  riches  from  the  forests,  the  mines,  the  fishe 
ries,  and  the  fields  of  the  new  world.  The  treasures  of 
Montezuma  and  the  Incas,  and  all  the  plunder  of  the 
south,  were  quickly  consumed  ;  but  the  West  Indies,  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  immense  mountains, 
plains,  and  rivers,  from  Hudson's  Bay  to  Patagonia,  re 
vealed  perennial  fountains  of  wealth,  and  charmed  the 
imagination  with  gorgeous  visions,  in  which  were  seen 
"  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver." 

Down  to  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Spanish  succes 
sion,  in  A.  D.  1713,  the  nations  of  Europe  paid  a  tole 
rable  respect  to  the  colonial  rights  and  claims  of  each 
other ;  but  after  that  time  commercial  cupidity  began  to 
extend  its  iron  arm  to  the  colonies  of  the  rival  powers 
of  Europe,  and  disturb  their  repose — former  objects  of 
national  ambition  ceased  to  interest  the  maritime  nations 
— commerce  became  the  all-absorbing  object  of  attention, 
and  courts  and  cabinets  were  swayed  by  the  hopes  and 
fears  of  merchants.  This  ascendency  of  the  commer 
cial  interest  became  speedily  destructive  of  the  colonial 
system.  Spain,  France,  and  England,  in  the  hope  of 
gain  began  to  violate  the  colonial  rights  and  claims  of 
each  other.  In  these  invasions  England  was  the  aggres 
sor  ;  France  imitated  her ;  and  Spain,  after  suffering  from 
the  rapacity  of  her  neighbours,  became  bold  in  playing 
at  the  same  game.  Two  consequences  followed ;  En 
gland  and  Spain  engaged  in  a  commercial  war  in  A.  D. 
1739,  and  England  and  France  in  a  war  for  foreign 
possessions.  Let  us  trace  these  two  consequences  a 
little  in  detail. 

The  commercial  war  between  England  and  Spain  may 
be  connected  directly  with  the  monopoly  of  the  slave- 
trade,  which  England  obtained  at  the  close  of  the  war  of 


184  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

the  Spanish  succession.  By  the  grant  of  that  monopoly, 
England  acquired  the  exclusive  right  of  furnishing  slaves 
for  the  several  markets  of  America  and  the  West  Indies ; 
but,  excepting  this  grant,  Spain  claimed  the  exclusive 
commerce  of  her  plantations.  The  British  slave-ships, 
however,  soon  interfered  with  these  claims ;  for,  when 
they  entered  the  ports  of  Spanish  America  to  dispose  of 
their  slaves,  they  also  began  to  import  silks,  spices,  and 
all  the  various  articles  of  commerce.  This  was  an  en 
croachment  which  the  Spaniards  wrere  not  disposed  to 
tolerate  ;  for  it  struck  at  the  very  life  of  their  colonies. 
Spain  accordingly  remonstrated  with  England,  against 
this  invasion  of  her  rightful  commerce  ;  but  the  British 
government  being  in  these  matters  much  swayed  by 
slave-traders  and  commercial  interests,  disregarded  the 
remonstrances,  and  English  ships  continued  to  interfere 
with  the  Spanish  American  trade.  After  twenty  years 
of  irritation  upon  the  subject,  the  two  nations  came  to 
an  open  rupture  in  A.  D.  1739.  From  that  time  the 
nations  of  Europe  ceased  to  act  in  concert  in  regard  to 
their  foreign  interests  ;  and  from  that  time  colonial  inde 
pendence  was  possible.  Previously  to  this  commercial 
war,  a  colonial  revolt  would  have  received  no  favour  in 
Europe  ;  but  after  this  time,  such  a  movement  was  cer 
tain  to  find  friends  in  the  European  rivals  of  the  mother 
country. 

Thus  the  English  monopoly  of  the  slave-trade,  be 
side  its  direct  effect  and  grievous  evils,  also  began  the 
ruin  of  the  colonial  system  of  Europe.  The  war  into 
which  England  and  Spain  entered  on  this  account,  be 
came,  however,  merged  in  the  great  ocean  of  European 
strife  ;  for  Frederick  of  Prussia  in  A.  D.  1741  invaded 
the  dominions  of  Austria  ;  and  soon  France,  Spain,  and 
Prussia  were  arrayed  on  one  side,  and  Great  Britain, 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          185 

Holland,  and  Austria  on  the  other.  All  Europe  became 
one  great  battle-field ;  and  it-was  not  till  the  peace  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  A.  D.  1748,  that  the  general  com 
motion  subsided,  to  be  soon  renewed  with  increased 
fury.  The  colonial  rights  and  possessions  of  the  three 
great  maritime  nations  were,  during  this  strife,  invaded 
by  each  other,  and  the  New  World  felt  the  angry  pas 
sions  of  the  old.  For  example,  the  English  colonies  of 
North  America  engaged  in  aid  of  their  mother  country  in 
the  expedition  to  Louisburg,  the  stronghold  of  the  French 
on  Cape  Breton,  and  indeed  in  North  America.  Its 
capture  gave  evidence  of  the  power  of  the  colonies ; 
and  the  preparations  by  France  for  its  recovery,  showed 
the  importance  \vhich  that  nation  attached  to  its  foreign 
possessions. 

But  it  was  not  till  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  had 
given  the  world  a  few  years  of  doubtful  repose,  that  the 
conflicting  claims  of  France  and  England  in  North  Ame 
rica  put  an  end  entirely  to  the  colonial  system  of  Eu 
rope.  France  had  early  planted  her  nurseries  in  the 
West  Indies,  along  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  at  a  few 
widely  separated  points  on  the  Mississippi.  Religious 
zeal  lent  its  aid  to  her  political  projects,  and  sent  French 
missionaries  to  the  Indians  on  the  great  lakes  of  the  north, 
and  in  the  valley  of  the  wrest.  By  discovery,  explora 
tion,  and  partial  settlement,  she  claimed  the  valley  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Mississippi,  and  soon  per 
ceived  the  policy  of  uniting  these  territorial  possessions, 
and  making  of  them  one  grand  colonial  empire.  In  ac 
complishment  of  this  purpose,  French  forts  were  con 
structed  at  different  points  along  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
the  lakes  ;  and  another  series  along  the  Mississippi  and 
its  tributary  streams  towards  the  north.  It  was  certainly 


186  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

a  grand  project  to  unite  Canada  and  Louisiana,  and 
make  them  one  united  and  continued  French  possession. 

But  how  did  such  a  project  harmonize  with  the  pre 
tensions  of  England  and  her  American  provinces  ?  It 
was  an  interference  with  these  pretensions,  and  an  in 
tolerable  restriction  upon  her  plans  and  prospects.  It  was 
an  interference,  because  the  territorial  claims  of  England 
extended  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  With  the 
exception  of  a  few  provinces,  each  colony  was  limited 
westward  only  by  the  great  ocean.  But  if  the  French 
gained  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  and  not  the  Pacific,  would  become  the 
western  boundary  of  the  English  settlements ;  for  every 
spring  and  stream  that  rose  and  flowed  on  the  west  of 
those  monntains,  emptied  its  waters  into  the  Mississippi, 
and  was  within  the  French  claim — the  Tennessee,  the 
Ohio,  the  Illinois,  the  Cumberland,  the  Missouri ;  in  a 
word,  all  the  rivers  between  the  Alleghany  and  Rocky 
Mountains,  even  to  their  fountain-heads,  were  on  French 
soil.  To  allow  France  the  possession  of  this  great  val 
ley  would  confine  the  English  entirely  to  the  Atlantic 
border,  and  indeed  would,  in  all  probability,  ultimately 
exclude  them  from  the  American  continent.  Such  a 
claim  on  the  part  of  France  struck,  therefore,  at  the  very 
life  of  their  most  valuable  possessions ;  and  was,  both 
by  the  colonies  and  by  Great  Britain,  immediately  re 
sisted.  The  French  proceeded,  however,  to  erect  forts 
along  the  Ohio  and  northern  lakes  ;  and  hardly  was  the 
ink  of  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  dry,  when  this  new 
cause  of  commotion  began  to  develope  itself. 

Remonstrances  and  demands,  projects  and  counter- 
projects  passed  between  London  and  Paris,  and  still  the 
operations  of  the  French  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  continued.  The  Anglo-Americans  themselves  be- 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          187 

came  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  falling  under  the  domi 
nion  of  the  French,  and  took  up  arms  ;  England  sent  her 
soldiers  ;  Braddock  and  Washington  marched  for  Pitts 
burgh,  and  encountered  a  fatal  resistance  from  the 
French  and  Indians  on  the  Monongahela.  And  yet, 
while  Frenchmen  were  building  forts  on  the  Ohio,  and 
Indians  yelling  along  the  western  slope  of  the  Alle- 
ghany  Mountains,  the  courts  of  London  and  Versailles 
were  bowing  with  diplomatic  politeness,  and  renew 
ing  to  each  other  "  the  assurance  of  their  distinguished 
consideration."  But  slowly  the  fire  of  hostility  be 
tween  the  two  nations  kindled.  It  sent  forth  a  warn 
ing  smoke  from  Braddock's  field — it  sparkled  —  it 
burst  into  a  blaze — it  wrapped  the  civilized  world  in 
its  flames. 

War  was  declared  between  the  two  nations,  and 
North  America  was  the  prize.  This  was,  in  its  origin,  a 
colonial  war.  It  began  on  the  Ohio ;  but  soon  involved 
all  the  powers  of  Europe.  Its  battles  were  fought  in 
the  heart  of  Germany,  in  the  Netherlands,  in  Spain,  and 
on  the  Atlantic  ;  while  far  away,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
globe,  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  in  Hindostan,  in  the  valley 
of  the  Ganges,  and  in  the  picturesque  gardens  of  Asia, 
French  and  English  soldiers  met  in  the  deadly  strife ;  arid 
Rajahs  and  Asiatic  peasants  were  frightened  by  a  struggle 
for  the  Mississippi  valley.  In  North  America  itself,  the 
provinces  entered  into  the  contest  according  to  their  abili 
ty.  Wolfe  died  before  Quebec — Ticonderoga  and  Crown 
Point  heard  the  cannonade ;  and  through  all  the  strife, 
the  colonies  along  the  Atlantic  stood  side  by  side  with 
their  mother  country.  They  were  part  of  the  prize  for 
which  the  world  had  been  thrown  into  an  uproar ;  and 
their  apprehension  of  falling  under  the  dominion  of 
France,  caused  them  to  contribute  their  money  and 


188  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

their  blood  to  the  warfare  ;  and  they  sent  their  sons  to 
fight  on  the  north  and  west. 

This  seven  years'  war  closed  with  the  peace  of  Paris, 
in  A.  D.  1763.  Its  results  were  fatal  to  the  power  of  the 
French  in  North  America — they  lost  all  their  possessions 
there.  The  British  gained  Canada,  and  the  whole  country 
west,  as  far  as  the  Mississippi  river.  All  the  region  lying 
east  of  that  river,  and  extending  away  towards  the  re 
mote  north,  came  into  the  undisputed  possession  of 
Great  Britain;  France  lost  all  —  her  whole  power  in 
North  America  was  annihilated. 

The  results  of  this  contest  to  the  Atlantic  colonies 
were  very  important,  and  deeply  affected  the  future  for 
tunes  of  America.  The  French,  while  in  possession  of 
Canada,  kept  them  always  in  fear  of  being  subjected  to 
France,  and  operated  like  an  external  pressure,  to  force 
them  into  closer  union  with  Great  Britain  ;  but  when, 
by  the  conquest  of  Canada,  they  were  relieved  from 
this  pressure,  they  were  more  at  liberty  to  dispute  the 
pretensions  of  their  mother  country.  This  result  of  the 
war  was,  therefore,  of  great  benefit  to  them  in  respect  to 
their  liberation  from  Great  Britain.  Farther,  by  this 
war  the  colonial  system  of  Europe  lost  its  balance,  and 
was,  in  fact,  completely  overturned.  France  was  no 
longer  interested  with  England,  in  the  common  cause 
of  making  gain  from  the  New  World.  Her  interest  in 
North  America  was  destroyed,  and  as  England  had 
stripped  her  of  her  foreign  possessions,  she  stood  ready 
to  reciprocate  the  favour,  and  to  aid  in  unfrocking  her 
rival,  either  through  the  agency  of  a  colonial  revolt,  or 
by  any  other  available  means. 

The  leading  nations  of  Europe  had,  therefore,  no 
longer  the  same  interests  in  America — man  and  Liberty 
gained  what  France  lost,  and  the  independence  of  the 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.         189 

American  provinces  became  a  practicable  affair.  This 
was  another  result  of  the  commercial  wars,  which  was 
of  great  service  to  our  country. 

The  colonies  were  thus  freed  from  the  presence  of  a 
dangerous  and  dreaded  enemy  in  Canada,  and  gained 
in  France  a  friend  to  assist  them  in  their  struggle  for 
liberty.  But  besides  these  two  beneficial  results,  they 
derived  other  very  material  advantages  from  the  same 
"gentle  and  joyous  Passage  of  Arms,"  inasmuch  as  it 
accustomed  them  to  union  among  themselves,  and  taught 
them  the  advantages  of  acting  in  concert.  They  also 
learned  from  it  the  extent  of  their  own  force  and  re 
sources,  and  took  some  valuable  lessons  in  the  military 
art. 

We  have  mentioned,  that  in  these  contests  the  thirteen 
colonies  stood  side  by  side  with  their  mother  country. 
But  notwithstanding  this  assistance,  when  the  seven  years' 
war  ended,  they  found  themselves  yet  more  oppressed 
than  before  it  commenced — for  that  war  was  made  the 
foundation  of  other  impositions  by  Great  Britain.  Eng 
land  adopted  a  species  of  logic  which  was  more  con 
vincing  in  the  curtained  cabinets  of  princes,  than  among 
the  "diggers'  up  of  trees-roots"  in  America.  She 
reasoned  in  substance  as  follows :  "  To  preserve  the 
American  colonies,  I  have  waged  a  grievous  war — I 
must  derive  a  part  of  the  expenses  of  that  war  from 
them — I  have  defended  them,  and  therefore  will  tax 
them." 

IV.  This  brings  me  to  another  cause  of  the  American 
Revolution ;  namely,  the  attempt  of  Great  Britain  to  tax 
the  colonies. 

The  stamp  act  and  tea  duty  have  been  interwoven 
into  the  history  of  our  Revolution,  and  figure  very  ex 
tensively  in  Fourth  of  July  orations.  But  were  these  the 


190  ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

first  attempts  of  England  to  tax  the  colonies  ?  Not  at  all. 
Run  your  eye  along  the  map  of  history  till  you  approach 
the  commencement  of  the  last  century.  What  are  the 
New  Englanders,  the  Yankees  of  that  "  long  time  ago," 
then  doing?  They  are  driving  on  a  profitable  business 
with  the  French  West  Indies,  in  the  importation  of  sugar 
and  molasses.  And  what  do  they  make  of  these  sweet 
articles?  Rum.  Shipping  into  the  northern  ports  im 
mense  quantities  of  West  India  molasses,  they  distilled 
it,  and  made  large  profits.  This  interfered  with  the 
interests  of  English  manufacturers  and  West  India  mo- 
mopolists ;  and  in  A.  D.  1733,  the  British  parliament 
regulated  this  trade  by  imposing  a  heavy  duty  on  sugar 
and  molasses.  This  was  the  first  tax  laid  by  Great 
Britain  on  her  American  plantations.  Even  this,  how 
ever,  was  done  under  the  pretence  that  the  duty  was  a 
commercial  regulation,  and  not  a  tax  for  revenue. 

But  commercial  regulation  though  it  might  be,  the 
New  Englanders  refused  to  submit  to  it.  The  duty  im 
posed  amounted  to  a  prohibition — but  smuggling  evaded 
the  act  of  parliament,  and  rum  continued  to  be  manu 
factured,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  England.  The 
sugar  and  molasses  soured  instead  of  sweetening  the 
parties.  Britain  was  willing  that  her  colonies  should 
have  slaves ;  but  to  manufacture  rum  in  Boston  was  con 
trary  to  English  morality — that  is,  to  English  commercial 
interests.  But  it  was  reserved  to  another  generation 
to  develope  the  results  of  a  direct  tax  imposed  upon 
America. 

In  A.  D.  1764,  the  celebrated  stamp  act  was  incon 
siderately  passed,  and  afforded  the  occasion  of  manifesting 
the  views  of  the  provinces  respecting  their  connexion  with 
Great  Britian.  Let  us  detail  a  few  of  the  facts  connected 
with  this  celebrated  act,  and  then  we  can  more  clearly 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          191 

perceive  the  position  of  our  country  at  this  interesting 
period. 

What  was  the  stamp  act?  I  need  hardly  inform  you 
that  it  proposed  to  raise  a  revenue  by  compelling  the 
colonists  to  write  their  notes,  deeds,  bonds,  wills,  and 
other  commercial  and  legal  instruments,  on  paper  or 
parchment  which,  like  coin,  was  stamped  with  figure 
heads  and  other  devices.  For  every  such  piece  of  paper 
or  parchment,  a  tax  varying  from  a  few  pennies  to  eight 
or  ten  pounds,  was  to  be  paid  to  the  English  treasury. 
In  a  word,  it  was  a  tax  on  the  industry  of  the  colonies. 
Its  injustice  roused  their  indignation,  and  it  was  every 
where  vehemently  opposed.  In  Boston  it  produced 
riots  ;  and  violent  opposition  was  made  to  it  from  Mas 
sachusetts  to  Georgia.  The  English  merchants  and 
manufacturers  became  alarmed — they  dreaded  the  loss 
of  their  monopoly  of  the  American  trade — and  at  their 
urgent  entreaty,  the  obnoxious  act  was  repealed. 

High  blazed  the  bonfires  of  joy  throughout  America 
when  the  repeal  was  announced.  But  the  exultation 
was  evanescent ;  it  was  the  halloo  of  those  not  yet  out 
of  the  woods ;  for,  in  the  next  year,  another  attempt  was 
made  to  impose  a  tax  upon  them.  Parliament  passed 
an  act  laying  certain  duties  on  tea,  paper,  glass,  and 
other  articles,  upon  their  importation  into  the  colonies. 
They  had  hitherto,  for  reasons  already  stated,  acquiesced 
in  the  numerous  restrictions  imposed  by  the  twenty-nine 
acts  of  parliament  upon  their  commerce.  They  had 
sometimes,  it  is  true,  grievously  murmured;  but  for  a 
whole  century  they  had  submitted  to  the  commercial 
system  of  Great  Britain.  In  all  these  restrictions,  the 
British  parliament  had  never  pretended  to  raise  a  re 
venue  from  a  tax  on  their  labour ;  on  the  contrary, 
its  legislation  for  them  was  all  professedly  directed  to 


192  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

the  regulation  of  commerce.  But  now  an  attempt  was 
made  to  tax  them  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  raising 
a  revenue  for  the  treasury  in  England.  The  stamp  act 
had  been  passed  for  this  purpose  ;  and  the  tea  bill  pro 
vided  for  a  similar  tax.  When  this  measure  was  an 
nounced  in  America,  a  ferment  was  again  created  through 
the  country,  and  again  the  British  merchants  and  manu 
facturers  became  alarmed ;  and  the  duties  imposed  were 
repealed,  except  the  tax  on  tea — that  remained. 

During  these  proceedings,  some  of  the  colonies  had 
ceased  all  intercourse  with  Great  Britain.  To  bring 
matters  to  a  crisis,  the  English  East  India  Company 
sent  cargoes  of  tea  to  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia, 
Charleston,  and  other  ports.  But  the  Americans  were 
united  in  their  opposition  to  parliamentary  taxation  ;  and 
the  tea-ships  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  wrere  sent 
back  by  the  inhabitants  to  London.  At  Charleston  the 
tea  was  landed,  and  stored  away  to  spoil  in  damp  cel 
lars.  At  Boston — but  you  know  the  story ;  the  Bos- 
tonians  made  an  ocean  of  tea. 

These  attempts  at  taxation  kindled  the  smoking  fire 
into  a  blaze  ;  and  from  the  day  the  tea  was  thrown  into 
Boston  harbour,  the  authority  of  England  over  the 
American  colonies  was  in  fact  at  an  end ;  for  next  came 
the  Port  Bill,  by  which  parliament  closed  the  port  of 
Boston  till  satisfaction  should  be  rendered  for  the  de 
struction  of  the  tea — a  satisfaction  which  was  received 
when  Cornwallis  fired  his  last  shot  from  the  fortifications 
at  Yorktown. 

What  were  the  grounds  of  the  violent  opposition  in 
America  to  taxation  by  the  British  parliament  ?  That 
opposition  was  founded  in  the  whole  history  and  life  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  The  colonists  never  forgot 
from  what  ancestors  they  were  principally  descended. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.         193 

They  never  forgot  that  taxes  were  the  free  gift  of  the 
people  \vho  paid  them ;  and  they  could  not  understand 
how  they  could  give  a  free  gift  when  they  were  not  pre 
sent  either  by  representation  or  otherwise  in  the  British 
parliament,  where  the  tax  was  laid  and  the  gift  given. 
They  knew  the  origin  of  taxation ;  they  knew  that,  in 
the  early  history  of  the  race  from  which  they  were  de 
scended,  no  taxes  in  money  were  paid.  They  had 
learned  that,  in  the  rugged  days  of  English  life,  an 
Anglo-Saxon  paid  his  tax  with  his  sword  ;  with  his  sword 
he  fought  for  his  chief,  and,  by  its  sturdy  strokes,  dis 
charged  his  debts  to  his  prince  ;  and,  when  in  latter  times 
a  British  House  of  Commons  was  formed,  it  was  formed 
by  the  kings  to  obtain  grants  of  money  from  the  people. 
No  English  king  ever  dared,  in  his  hours  of  greatest  tyran 
ny,  to  impose,  of  his  own  authority,  a  direct  tax  upon  the 
people.  If  Charles  I.  levied  duties  without  the  consent 
of  his  people,  he  did  it  on  the  claim  at  least  that  they  had 
been  granted  to  him ;  and  he  lost  his  head  for  taking  money 
without  the  consent  of  his  people.  Not  even  his  claim 
to  regulate  commerce  could  shield  him,  when  his  com 
mercial  regulations  were  used  for  oppressive  taxation. 

Thus,  through  all  English  history,  the  English  people 
claimed  the  exclusive  right  of  granting  their  own  money 
at  their  own  good  pleasure  to  the  royal  treasury.  This 
was  the  bold,  prominent  fact  in  their  domestic  history ; 
and  this  practice,  or  right,  they  considered  essential  to 
the  existence  of  a  spark  of  liberty.  Their  sovereign 
was  armed  with  the  sword ;  but  while  the  people  held 
the  purse  they  could  direct  the  sword.  By  their  purse 
they  had  purchased  many  political  privileges  in  the  times 
when  the  divine  right  of  kings  was  a  fundamental  article 
in  the  political  creed.  By  the  purse  they  had  controlled 
their  sovereign  in  times  when  that  creed  was  yielding  to 
R 


194  ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

the  other  belief  that  the  people  can  make  their  sovereign 
and  unmake  him.  To  grant  their  money  therefore  in 
their  own  way,  was  deemed  essential  to  the  very  life 
and  being  of  their  liberties. 

The  American  provinces  had  grown  up  with  these 
ideas,  and  made  them  part  of  their  political  theory. 
The  people  of  the  colonies  were  principally  of  English 
extraction,  and  had  drawn  from  England  their  elemental 
notions  of  political  rights.  Among  these  notions  was 
the  idea  that  taxes  are  the  free  gift  of  the  people  who 
pay  them  ;  an  idea  which  was  deeply  inwrought  into  the 
very  staple  and  essence  of  their  political  notions,  and 
brought  forth  the  fruits  of  uncompromising  opposition  to 
parliamentary  taxation. 

But  ought  they  of  right  to  be  exempt  from  all  taxa 
tion  ?  This  they  did  not  claim.  During  generations  of 
toil  they  had  hewn  down  the  forest,  and  made  many 
laws  for  their  own  government.  To  support  their  go 
vernment,  to  pay  the  officers  of  their  own  appointment, 
to  raise  armies  for  the  purpose  of  righting  the  French  and 
Indians,  they  had  always  taxed  themselves.  But  by  wrhat 
authority  did  parliament  tax  them  ?  Where  did  parlia 
mentary  taxation  begin  ?  where  end  ?  or  why  begin  at 
all  ?  These  were  grave  questions,  which  were  asked  by 
adventurous^  emigrants  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  ;  but, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  the  facts  contemplated, 
and  the  reasonings  founded  upon  them,  were  somewhat 
different.  It  was  there  alleged  that  Great  Britain  had 
defended  the  colonies  against  the  French  and  Indians. 
Had  not  Brad  dock  fallen  on  the  Monongahela,  and 
Wolfe  on  the  St.  Lawrence  ?  Had  not  British  armies 
fought  in  every  region  of  the  world  for  the  preservation 
of  their  rights?  And  was  Britain  entitled  to  no  re 
muneration  for  such  sacrifices  ?  Such  were  the  questions 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          195 

and  allegations  of  men  in  Great  Britain ;  and,  in  view 
of  these  matters,  and  of  all  the  relations  of  the  colonies 
to  England,  parliament  asserted  the  right  to  tax  them  in 
all  cases  whatever.  This  was  expressly  announced  in 
the  Declaratory  Act  of  A.  D.  1766,  which  accompanied 
the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act. 

What  answer  did  the  men  in  the  woods  of  America 
make  to  these  transatlantic  questions  and  assertions  ? 
They  denied  that  great  benefits  had  been  conferred  upon 
them  by  Britain  ;  or  that,  if  benefits  had  been  conferred, 
they  did  not  warrant  Britain  in  oppressing  them  with  an 
iniquitous  taxation.  It  must  be  admitted  that  they  did 
not  speak  or  act  very  consistently  with  each  other  in  re 
gard  to  the  extent  of  parliamentary  authority  over  them. 
I  mean  that  there  did  not  exist  through  the  colonies 
much  uniformity  of  views  or  conduct  in  regard  to  the 
rights  of  parliamentary  interference.  Some  of  them  had, 
long  before  the  passage  of  the  stamp  act,  denied  the 
right  of  parliament  to  exercise  any  authority  over  them ; 
others  had  admitted  the  right  of  that  body  to  legislate 
for  them  in  matters  of  commercial  regulation,  but  no 
farther.  The  truth  is,  there  was  not  even  in  America 
any  recognised  or  settled  line  by  which  the  colonial  le 
gislation  of  parliament  wras  bounded  ;  but  this  diversity 
of  opinion  grew  less  and  less  and  gradually  disappeared ; 
and  a  few  years  before  the  commencement  of  the  Revo 
lution  they  became  pretty  uniform  in  denying  the  right 
of  parliament  to  exercise  any  authority  over  them.  They 
had  acquiesced  in  the  legislation  of  that  body  so  long  as 
its  legislation  was  ostensibly  directed  to  the  regulation 
of  commerce.  They  had  indeed  often  murmured  and 
smuggled ;  but  still  they  acquiesced.  But  now,  when 
parliament  advanced  in  its  claims  to  legislate  for  them  ge 
nerally,  they  began  to  deny  its  authority.  Nor  were  they 


196  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

contented  with  merely  acting  on  the  defensive ;  for, 
pretty  much  in  proportion  as  Great  Britain  sought  to  in 
crease  and  extend  her  authority  over  them,  they 
sought  to  reject  what  she  had  formerly  exercised ;  and 
by  the  time  parliament  announced  its  right  to  legislate 
for  them  in  every  case  whatever,  they  denied  its  right  to 
legislate  for  them  in  any  case  whatever. 

This  was  the  result  at  which  the  parties  arrived  by 
the  year  1776.  By  that  time  the  colonies  had  become 
tolerably  unanimous  in  their  views  respecting  their  rela 
tions  to  Great  Britain.  These  views,  when  drawn  up  in 
form,  and  as  entertained  by  Jefferson,  Adams,  Hancock, 
and  others,  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows : 

The  British  parliament  has  full  power  to  legislate  for 
that  part  of  his  majesty's  dominions  which  lie  in  Eng 
land,  Ireland,  and  Scotland.  Over  these  islands  its 
legislative  authority  is  supreme.  In  like  manner  the 
legislature  of  Virginia  has  authority  to  make  laws  for 
that  part  of  his  majesty's  dominions  which  lie  in  Vir 
ginia.  Over  this  region  its  legislative  powrer  is  supreme. 
The  other  colonial  legislatures  are  clothed  with  powers 
similar  to  those  possessed  by  the  legislature  of  Virginia, 
and  each  is  supreme  within  its  territory.  The  legisla 
ture  of  Virginia  has  no  right  to  make  laws  for  the  people 
in  Great  Britain,  nor  has  parliament  a  right  to  legislate 
for  the  people  of  Virginia  in  any  matter.  In  a  word, 
the  legislatures  of  each  of  the  provinces  and  the  parlia 
ment  of  Britain,  are  all  on  the  same  foundation:  each 
is  a  legislative  body  for  a  province  of  the  British  Empire. 
If  his  majesty  desires  money  from  his  province  of  Vir 
ginia,  he  can  get  it  only  by  obtaining  a  grant  of  it  from 
the  legislature  of  Virginia.  If  he  desires  money  from 
his  province  of  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland,  he  can 
get  it  only  by  a  grant  from  parliament.  If  he  desires 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          197 

money  from  Massachusetts  he  must  ask  Massachusetts 
for  it.  In  each  case  his  request  may  be  refused  or  it 
may  be  granted.  But  it  is  intolerably  arrogant  that  men 
chosen  in  England,  one  province  of  the  British  Empire, 
should  undertake  to  legislate  for  Virginia,  another  pro 
vince  of  the  same  empire. 

This  was  in  substance  the  theory  which  the  colonists 
adopted  respecting  their  relation  to  Great  Britain.  A 
few  obvious  consequences  flowed  immediately  from  it, 
and  it  soon  afforded  a  pretty  wide  range  for  political 
speculation  and  action.  One  of  the  obvious  conse 
quences  of  this  theory  was,  that  the  British  Empire  was 
composed  of  numerous  parts  or  provinces,  each  of 
which  was,  in  matters  of  legislation,  independent  of  the 
others  ;  each  had  supreme  legislative  power  within  its 
territory,  but  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  rest.  The 
British  islands  were  one  of  these  imperial  provinces,  and 
each  of  the  American  colonies  was  another.  At  the 
head  of  all  these  provinces  sat  his  majesty  the  king. 
Another  obvious  consequence  of  this  theory  was  the  an 
nihilation  of  all  parliamentary  legislation  for  the  colonies. 
For  the  men  who  adopted  such  a  theory  of  independent 
provincial  legislation,  were  not  slow  to  declare  the  twenty- 
nine  acts  of  parliament  for  regulating  colonial  commerce 
to  be  twenty-nine  acts  of  usurpation.  They  declared  the 
whole  century  of  colonial  restrictions  by  parliament  to  be 
a  whole  century  of  tyranny,  and  derided  the  stamp  act,  tea 
bill,  and  other  attempts  to  subject  them  to  the  supreme 
control  of  parliament. 

These  were  natural  fruits  of  the  theory  of  independent 
legislative  power.  The  colonies  were,  in  this  view  of 
their  relations,  each  legislatively  independent  of  the  rest ; 
but  all  having  a  common  head  in  the  king.  But  soon 
many  bolder  spirits  in  America  went  a  step  farther,  and 


198  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

asserted  that  the  English  king  had  no  right  to  any  su 
premacy  over  them  ;  and  they  also  affirmed  that  English 
emigrants  came  here  to  escape  from  bondage  at  home- 
and  that,  when  here,  they  did  not  come  under  the  pro 
tection  or  control  of  the  crown.  They  went  farther. 
They  derided  the  pretensions  of  the  English  sovereign 
to  .North  America  ;  and  asserted  that  the  native  Indians 
were  the  original  owners,  and  that  the  colonists,  by  pur 
chase  or  conquest  from  them,  had  a  right  to  the  soil  and 
sovereignty  of  the  country.  An  Indian  deed,  with  all 
its  rude  hieroglyphics  of  bears,  snakes,  and  canoes,  was 
of  infinitely  greater  worth  than  a  royal  patent.  This  was 
the  more  popular  doctrine  of  the  northern  provinces.  It 
of  course  struck  at  the  root  of  all  regal  and  parliamentary 
authority,  and  made  the  people  who  were  on  the  ground 
the  owners  of  the  sovereignty  as  well  as  of  the  soil. 

These  views  of  their  relations  to  Great  Britain  made 
the  Americans  earnest  in  asserting  their  intention  to  take 
care  of  themselves.  Descendants  of  Englishmen,  they 
knew  the  rights  of  Englishmen — Protestants  by  religious 
persuasion,  they  cherished  their  political  and  religious 
freedom — republicans  by  practice,  they  highly  valued 
the  rights  of  self-government — educated  in  a  knowledge 
of  freedom,  they  never  forgot  their  political  instruction  ; 
and  far  removed  from  their  parent  country  by  three 
thousand  miles  of  ocean,  they  grew  accustomed  to  take 
care  of  themselves.  Thus  educated,  thus  separated  from 
their  ancient  home,  thus  left  in  the  woods,  thus  believing, 
and  thus  acting,  these  "diggers-up  of  trees'  roots"  became 
bold  for  liberty,  tenacious  of  their  rights,  and  uncom 
promisingly  hostile  to  parliamentary  taxation. 

This  repugnance  to  parliamentary  legislation  was 
exhibited  at  different  points  of  time  through  all  the 
colonial  history.  For  example,  Massachusetts,  more 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          199 

than  a  century  before  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
had  asserted  in  her  remonstrances  to  England,  that  her 
own  legislature,  and  not  parliament,  was  the  highest  le 
gislative  authority  known  to  her  charter  and  laws.  Si 
milar  denials  had  been  implied  in  declarations  from 
other  provinces ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  smouldering 
fires  of  the  Revolution  were  ready  to  burst  into  a  flame, 
that  they  all,  with  one  accord,  united  in  denying,  deri 
ding,  and  setting  at  nought  the  legislation  of  parliament. 
Having  arrived  at  this  uniformity  of  belief,  they  inserted 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  as  one  of  their  griev 
ances,  that 

"  He"  (the  king  of  Great  Britain)  "has  combined 
with  others,  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction  foreign  to  our 
constitutions,  and  unacknowledged  by  our  law ;  giving 
his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended  legislation  for  im 
posing  taxes  upon  us  without  our  consent."  The  at 
tentive  reader  need  not  be  informed  that  the  British 
parliament  were  the  "  others"  with  whom  the  king  com 
bined,  and  whose  acts  of  pretended  legislation  were  an 
infringement  of  colonial  rights  and  privileges.  True  to 
their  theory  that  the  king,  and  not  the  parliament,  was 
the  sovereign  authority  to  wrhich  they  had  owed  allegi 
ance,  the  provinces  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
laid  all  their  grievances  to  his  charge.  He  is  the  great 
sinner — parliament  they  do  not  once  name. 

This  attempt  at  taxation  was  the  more  immediate 
cause  of  the  explosion  between  the  colonies  and  the 
mother  country.  But  we  must  not  forget  that  there  were 
other  grievances  which,  though  of  minor  magnitude, 
contributed  to  the  same  result. 

V.  One  of  these  minor  grievances  was  the  interference 
of  the  British  parliament  with  the  colonial  currency. 
We  have  seen  that  the  main  idea  of  the  commercial 


200  ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

system  was,  that  a  country  grows  rich  in  proportion  to 
its  accumulation  of  gold  and  silver.  To  accumulate 
gold  and  silver  in  England,  the  commerce  of  America 
was  so  regulated  that  there  was  constantly  a  balance  of 
trade  in  favour  of  England.  In  other  words,  the  colonies 
received  more  merchandise  from  England  than  they  sent 
to  England.  To  pay  the  difference,  their  gold  and  silver 
were  remittted  to  London,  and  they  were  left  without  a 
currency.  To  supply  this  deficiency,  paper  money,  in 
the  form  of  bank  notes,  bills  of  credit,  and  other  well 
devised  securities,  had  been  issued  from  time  to  time  in 
many  of  the  provinces.  This  paper  money  system  com 
menced  in  Massachusetts  in  the  year  1694,  and  soon  at 
tracted  the  attention  of  the  English  government.  Royal 
proclamations  attempted  to  fix  the  value  of  gold  and  sil 
ver  in  America,  but  failed  in  the  attempt,  and  when 
the  system  of  paper  money  had  been  adopted  by  all  the 
colonies  except  Virginia,  royal  proclamations  endeavoured 
also  to  fix  its  value.  In  each  case  there  was  an  attempt 
to  make  the  precious  metals  more  valuable  in  England 
than  in  America.  The  provinces  were,  in  consequence 
of  these  influences,  afflicted  with  a  debased  and  fluctua 
ting  currency ;  and  the  attempt  to  determine  its  value 
by  regulations  in  Britain,  increased  the  difficulty.  When 
they  became  involved  in  the  seven  years'  war  against 
the  French,  they  raised  funds  by  issues  of  paper-money ; 
but  hardly  had  that  war  ended,  when  an  act  of  parliament 
declared  this  very  same  paper  to  be  no  longer  a  legal 
tender  in  payment  of  debts.  This  act,  made  at  the  close 
of  a  war  which  had  borne  heavily  on  several  of  the  colo 
nies,  was  received  with  much  displeasure.  Men  in  the 
provinces  began  to  ask  where  this  parliamentary  legis 
lation  was  to  end  ?  Virginia,  always  declining  the  bless 
ings  to  be  derived  from  issuing  paper  money,  had  made 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          201 

tobacco  a  currency.  Within  her  borders,  lands  were  sold 
for  tobacco — horses  were  bought  for  tobacco — the  bride 
paid  for  her  ornaments  in  tobacco — and  the  lawyers  and 
judges  received  their  fees  and  perquisites  in  tobacco. 
Would  the  British  parliament  also  regulate  this  currency  ? 
Men  began  to  ask  such  questions.  Men  wished  to  know 
where  the  British  legislation  for  America  would  end. 
They  wished  to  know  why  it  ever  began. 

Another  of  these  minor  grievances  was  the  exportation 
of  criminals  from  Great  Britain  to  the  colonies.  The 
practice  of  transporting  her  convicts  and  "  hard  cases"  to 
the  plantations  had  been  early  commenced  by  England, 
and  excited  much  righteous  indignation  in  a  country 
which  did  not  desire  to  be  made  the  Botany  Bay,  the  re 
ceptacle,  the  prison-house  of  the  felons  and  vagrants  who 
were  unfit  for  society.  The  Americans  could  not  un 
derstand  why  they,  being  English  subjects,  should  be 
exposed  in  their  property,  persons,  and  families,  to  rob 
bers,  thieves,  and  other  transgressors.  But  their  remon 
strances  were  unavailing,  and  convicts  were  every  year 
imported  from  England,  and  let  loose  to  prey  upon  the 
colonies.  The  practice  was  persevered  in  for  half  a 
century,  and  only  ceased  at  the  Revolution. 

Other  grievances  co-operated  with  those  now  men 
tioned,  and  aided  in  ripening  them  gradually  for  a  revolt. 
Their  chartered  liberties  were  threatened ;  and  when  the 
bold  conduct  of  Massachusetts  drew  the  indignation  of 
the  British  government  upon  that  province,  an  act  of 
parliament  was  passed  to  deprive  it  of  its  charter,  and 
vest  its  government  entirely  in  officers  of  royal  appoint 
ment.  Similar  attempts  had  been  made  at  different 
times  in  several  of  the  other  colonies.  Hence,  they  one 
and  all,  with  great  reason,  complained  that  the  king,  in 
conjunction  with  others,  had  committed  grievous  inju- 


202  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

ries  "  in  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing  our  laws, 
and  altering  fundamentally  our  forms  of  government." 
The  Declaration  of  Independence  enumerates  these  grie 
vances  in  brief  and  energetic  language,  and  is  an  admi 
rable  synopsis  of  the  opinions  and  resolutions  which 
were  in  those  days  discussed  all  over  an  angry  and  re- 
bellious  country. 

We  have  now  detailed  what,  in  our  view,  were  the 
leading  causes  of  the  American  Revolution  ;  and  in  this 
detail  your  attention  has  been  drawn  to  events  and  cir 
cumstances  and  influences  which  were  at  work,  not  for  a 
day,  but  for  a  century.  It  is  in  such  remote  and  con 
tinued  agencies  acting  from  afar,  that  the  plans  and  su 
perintendence  of  Providence  are  rendered  more  lumi 
nously  manifest.  The  wave  that  pushes  its  fellow-wave 
upon  the  beach  is  not  the  only  cause  of  the  ebb  and  flow 
of  the  ocean.  To  find  the  true  motive  power  which 
brings  the  tides  in  their  semi-diurnal  visit  to  the  shore, 
we  must  look  away  from  the  earth — we  must  penetrate 
into  the  heavens,  where  the  moon  and  the  sun  in  their 
daily  circuits  send  forth  in  quietness  the  mighty  energy 
which  drags  vast  oceans  from  their  repose.  After  a 
manner  in  some  respects  similar,  the  changes  which 
occur  in  the  condition  of  the  world  or  of  nations,  are 
generally  the  result  of  causes  which  have  been  in  ope 
ration  through  a  long  tract  of  time.  The  illegal  im 
position  of  ship-money  roused  the  patriotic  Hampden, 
precipitated  England  into  a  civil  war,  cost  Charles  I. 
his  head,  and  raised  Cromwell  to  power.  The  true 
causes,  however,  of  that  revolution  lay  far  back  of 
Hampden's  eloquence  and  imprisonment,  and  exhibit 
themselves  along  a  whole  century  of  previous  Eng 
lish  history.  Cross  from  the  British  Channel  to  the 
Continent,  and  another  grand  example  illustrative  of  the 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          203 

same  truth  is  found.  Difficulties  in  raising  revenue 
compelled  Louis  XVI.  to  assemble  the  states-general ; 
and  immediately  France  was  plunged  into  the  fire  and 
fury  of  a  strife  which  tore  to  pieces  the  political  organi 
zation  of  Continental  Europe.  But  the  causes  of  that 
uproar  had  been  at  work  for  more  than  a  hundred  years ; 
and  through  three  generations  of  Frenchmen  we  can 
trace  the  agencies  which  brought  about  the  French  Re 
volution.  In  like  manner  the  American  Revolution  was 
an  event,  a  result,  a  consummation,  whose  causes  operated 
through  a  century  of  time.  Taxation  by  the  British 
parliament,  like  the  ship-money  of  Hampden,  or  the 
financial  embarrassments  of  Louis,  served  as  an  oppor 
tunity  or  occasion  for  developing  results  which  had 
been  prepared  from  afar ;  but  the  real  causes  of  the 
American  Revolution,  the  actual  human  agencies  which 
produced  that  event,  centred  in  the  commercial  system 
of  Europe.  To  seize  upon  the  commerce  of  the  pro 
vinces,  to  use  them  as  the  means  of  accumulating  gold 
and  silver  in  England,  was  the  one  idea  which  dictated 
a  hundred  years  of  English  colonial  policy.  At  the 
basis  of  this  policy  were  the  several  interests — the  Eng 
lish  merchants,  manufacturers,  ship-owners,  and  land 
holders,  who,  through  the  king  and  parliament,  made 
laws  for  the  oppressive  restriction  of  the  poor  outcasts  in 
the  woods  of  America.  I  say  that  it  was  through  the  in 
fluence  of  these  interests  that  the  colonial  liberties  were 
often  subjected  to  violence ;  for  commercial  gain  was 
the  benefit,  and  almost  the  exclusive  benefit  that  Eng 
land  did  derive  or  could  derive  from  our  country.  To 
secure  this  benefit  the  privileges  of  thousands  of  freemen 
guarantied  by  charters  and  other  means,  were  sought 
to  be  annulled  whenever  they  came  in  collision  with 
English  interest. 


204  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Thus  was  commerce  perverted  to  the  purpose  of  grie 
vous  oppression ;  and  the  commercial  system  of  England, 
by  manifesting  itself  in  various  restrictions — in  the  slave- 
trade — in  the  aggressions  upon  the  colonial  commerce 
of  Spain,  and  in  divers  other  forms,  became  the  promi 
nent  and  central  cause  of  the  American  Revolution.  In 
a  preliminary  lecture  we  represented  commerce  to  be 
one  of  the  agencies  through  which  the  civilization  of  the 
European  race  was  effected.  The  winds  and  the  ocean 
have  been  subservient  to  the  cultivation,  the  refinement, 
and  the  intellectual  developement  of  mankind.  But  the 
winds  and  the  ocean  which  wafted  in  English  ships,  ne 
groes  to  America,  and  American  commerce  to  London, 
were  ministering  elements  in  the  partial  dissolution 
of  the  British  Empire.  Commerce  here,  though  it  was 
a  perverted  commerce,  nevertheless  was  promotive  of 
the  cause  of  civilization,  for  it  became  the  moving  power 
in  our  liberation  from  Great  Britain.  The  very  cultiva 
tion,  too,  which  had  been  aided  by  commerce,  became 
conducive  to  the  same  result.  For,  during  the  century 
previous  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  Mind  had 
made  a  great  advance — the  broad  field  of  human  cultiva 
tion  grew  riper — philosophy  renewed  its  youth,  and 
mounted  up  with  eagles'  wings — political  science  became 
better  understood — Newton  in  the  heavens,  Burke  in 
the  parliament,  and  Franklin  in  the  thunder-cloud,  were 
signs  and  symbols  shadowing  forth  the  march  of  hu 
manity,  and  pointing  out  the  road  the  European  race 
was  travelling.  In  the  North  American  provinces,  the 
race  was  travelling  to  national  independence.  This  goal 
they  reached,  by  the  year  1775,  when  from  the  hill  tops, 
the  mountain  slopes,  and  the  valleys,  the  gathering  thou 
sands  gave  signs  that  the  hour  of  political  redemption 
was  at  hand. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.          205 

And  now  that  we  have  detailed  the  causes  of  the  Re 
volution,  permit  us  to  ask,  were  they  not  prospective 
contrivances,  agencies,  means,  adaptations,  expedients 
• — all  pointing  forward  to  the  liberation  of  the  colonies, 
and  to  the  establishment  of  a  government  whose  ruling 
power  should  be  the  popular  will  ?  That  these  causes  pro 
duced  these  results,  we  know ;  and  that  they  were  designed 
in  the  counsels  of  Divine  wisdom  to  produce  them,  we 
must  believe.  This  liberation  and  democratic  organiza 
tion  were,  however,  effected  through  the  frost,  the  fires, 
the  heroism,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  Revolution.  To 
that  event  I  will  direct  your  attention  in  the  next 
lecture. 


LECTURE  VII. 
THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

Military  and  political  parts  of  the  Revolution — Adverse  circumstances 
attending  the  military  part :  I.  Want  of  money  ;  II.  Want  of  a  well 
organized  army;  III.  Want  of  a  general  government ;  IV.  Exposed 
position  of  the  country  ;  V.  Border  warfare  of  the  Indians  ;  VI.  To 
ries — Favourable  circumstances 'attending  the  military  part  of  the 
Revolution:  I.  Character  of  the  people;  II.  Wisdom  and  energy  of 
Congress  ;  III.  Fortunate  selection  of  military  men  ;  IV.  Alliances 
with  foreign  nations  ;  V.  Friends  in  England — Successful  conclusion 
of  the  military  part — The  political  part  of  the  Revolution — No  union 
among  the  colonies — Attempts  to  organize  a  government — I.  The 
Confederation:  Its  characterizing  features  ;  (1)  Legislation  for  states  ; 
(2)  No  sanction  to  its  laws :  Its  practical  operation  :  Causes  of  its 
failure — II.  The  Constitution  :  Circumstances  of  its  origin  ;  Its  pe 
culiar  nature  arising  from  a  compromise  of  views  and  interests  ;  Its 
characterizing  features  ;  (1)  Legislation  for  individuals,  not  states  ;  (2) 
Power  to  compel  obedience  to  its  laws  ;  (3)  Distribution  of  execu 
tive,  legislative,  and  judicial  power — The  adoption  of  the  constitu 
tion  completed  the  Revolution — Nature  of  the  results  obtained  by 
the  Revolution — Legitimacy  and  Democracy — The  Revolution  the 
termination  of  a  series  of  agencies  to  establish  popular  government. 

WE  have  examined  the  causes  of  the  Revolution, 
and  found  them  to  centre  in  the  mercantile  system — a 
system  which,  in  its  application  to  the  American  planta 
tions,  was  the  great  trunk,  the  mighty  stem  from  which 
grew  the  branches,  leaves,  and  twigs,  of  colonial  op 
pression.  Let  us  now  pass  to  the  Revolution  itself,  and 
examine  its  difficulties,  its  progress,  and  its  completion. 
By  observing  the  general  course  of  its  events,  we  wrill 
perceive  in  them  a  continuation  of  the  same  system  of 
agencies,  and  the  same  series  of  prospective  contrivances, 


THE   REVOLUTION.  207 

which  characterized  the  previous  movements  of  colonial 
history. 

The  object  and  success  of  the  Revolution  you  know. 
Its  work  was  to  dissolve  the  connexion  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  thirteen  colonies,  and  erect  them  into  a 
separate  nation.  It  began  in  A.  D.  1774,  when  the 
Continental  Congress  assembled  to  consult  upon  colonial 
grievances,  and  it  ended  in  A.  D.  1789,  when  the  present 
constitution  of  the  United  States  was  «  ordained  and  es 
tablished."  Of  these  fifteen  years,  seven  or  eight  were 
spent  in  the  frost  and  fire  of  the  war,  and  the  remainder 
in  experimenting  upon  the  plan  of  union,  and  in  groaning 
under  the  anarchy  of  the  first  confederatron.  The  revo 
lution  had,  in  this  view,  a  military,  and  a  political  part; 
the  first  contains  the  uproar  of  the  field,  the  second  the 
organization  of  the  government.  I  wish  to  draw  your 
attention  to  some  general  facts  and  circumstances,  both 
in  the  military  and  political  parts  of  this  work  ;  for  by 
viewing  the  Revolution  on  the  battle-field,  and  in  the 
council-chamber,  we  will  be  able  to  put  a  proper  value 
upon  its  heroism,  and  its  wisdom.  By  looking  at  it  in 
the  connexion  of  all  its  parts,  by  attending  to  its  diffi 
culties  and  its  success,  we  can  rightly  appreciate  the 
\vhole  work.  Let  us,  therefore,  review  the  general  and 
characterizing  circumstances  of  the  Revolution,  first  in 
its  military,  and  then  in  its  political  part. 

In  the  military  part  of  the  Revolution  we  have  the 
battles,  the  victories,  the  defeats,  and  the  jubilations  of 
success.  By  the  close  of  the  year  1774,  it  was  apparent 
that  the  colonies  had  ceased  to  petition  the  crown  for  a 
redress  of  grievances.  The  arguing  was  ended ;  the  pa 
tience  of  the  colonists  was  exhausted ;  armies  began  to 
assemble  ;  and  the  bayonet  and  rifle  were  introduced  to 
settle  the  dispute.  That  we  may  rightly  understand  the 


208 


ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 


course  of  the  warfare,  let  us  examine  first  the  adverse 
circumstances,  and  next  the  favourable  circumstances  in 
which  the  military  part  of  the  Revolution  was  maintained. 

What  were  the  adverse  circumstances,  the  difficulties, 
the  unfavourable  elements  through  which  the  colonies 
waged  eight  years'  warfare  ? 

I.  The  first  adverse  circumstance  which  I  shall  men- 
tien  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  colonies  in  their 
united  capacity  had  no  money,  no  public  property,  no 
general  treasury,  and  not  much  credit.  They  had  en 
gaged  in  the  war  partly  on  account  of  taxation,  and  were 
not  very  willing  to  impose  heavy  taxes  upon  themselves. 
Nor  was  the  nature  of  their  union  very  well  adapted  to 
remove  the  difficulties  arising  from  this  moneyless  con 
dition.  Their  union  was  a  spontaneous  movement ;  like 
the  offerings  of  the  ancient  Israelites,  it  was  of  their  own 
free  will.  Danger  from  without  pressed  upon  them ; 
and  to  avert  it  and  maintain  their  liberties,  they  made 
common  cause.  But  thirteen  independent  states,  though 
engaged  in  a  deadly  struggle  against  a  common  foe,  are 
not  often  disposed  to  give  liberal  contributions  to  the 
common  purse  ;  at  least  the  thirteen  colonies  found  it 
exceedingly  difficult  and  even  impossible  to  maintain  a 
common  treasury.  The  Declaration  of  Independence 
announced  the  common  determination  to  engage  in  the 
war ;  but  where  wras  the  money  to  be  obtained  which 
wrould  fight  the  battles  of  the  Revolution  ?  Men  may 
engage  with  ardour  in  a  great  national  struggle,  where  the 
danger  is  pressing,  and  the  excitement  high.  When 
Napoleon  conducted  his  armies  to  Russia,  a  whole  na 
tion  rose  up  against  him  ;  and  the  deserts  sent  forth  their 
wild  children  to  fight  the  invader.  But  eight  years' 
warfare,  such  as  our  Revolution,  required  soldiers  to  be 
procured,  trained  and  paid,  officered  and  clothed.  To 


THE   REVOLUTION.  209 

do  this  required  money  ;  but  the  Continental  Congress, 
the  organ  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  had  no  money.  Their 
resources  were  to  be  obtained  by  calling  upon  the  seve 
ral  states  to  contribute  provisions,  clothing,  the  munitions 
of  war,  and  soldiers.  These  contributions  often  came 
late,  and  often  they  did  not  come  at  all.  General  Ma 
rion  living  on  potatoes,  fighting  without  pay,  providing 
his  own  ammunition,  and  acting  the  hero  at  his  own  ex 
pense,  is  a  fair  representation  of  the  moneyless  warfare 
of  the  Revolution. 

Great  was  the  embarrassment  of  this  poverty — and 
it  was  the  more  distressing,  when  contrasted  with  the 
resources  of  the  nation  against  which  the  colonists  were 
contending.  Was  Great  Britain  an  old  and  doddered 
empire,  tottering  to  her  fall?  Precisely  the  contrary. 
She  had  the  longest  purse  in  Europe.  Like  Moses,  her 
natural  energy  was  not  abated.  She  was  feeding  on  the 
rice,  and  adorning  herself  with  the  jewels  of  India.  She 
was  clothing  herself  with  furs  from  the  hyperborean  re 
gions  of  North  America,  and  jingling  the  guineas  gotten 
by  selling  Guinea  negroes  into  bondage.  And,  besides, 
what  was  her  position  among  the  nations  of  Europe  ? 
France  had  been  worsted  in  the  seven  years'  war,  which 
closed  in  1763.  She  lost  her  colonial  possessions  in 
America,  and  was  stript  of  much  that  she  owned  in  other 
regions  of  the  world.  Holland,  absorbed  in  the  pursuits 
of  commerce,  was  giving  her  attention  to  cheese,  to  spices, 
and  to  tea.  Spain,  despoiled  of  her  European  provinces, 
but  still  retaining  her  vast  American  possessions,  was 
tottering  and  tumbling  from  her  ancient  glory  ;  her  head 
was  too  weak  for  her  members  ;  her  central  pulsations 
did  not  drive  the  vital  fluid  to  her  colonial  extremities. 
Great  Britain  was,  therefore,  the  ascendant  nation,  the 
ruling  power  of  Europe. 


210  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

With  such  a  nation,  holding  such  a  purse,  and  having 
such  neighbours,  the  thirteen  colonies,  without  money, 
and  without  public  property,  joined  in  the  strife  of  the 
Revolution. 

II.  Another  unfavourable  circumstance  in  the  mili 
tary  part  of  the  Revolution,  is  to  be  found  in  the  want 
of  a  well  organized  colonial  army.  This  difficulty  arose 
from  that  moneyless  condition  of  the  colonies  which  we 
have  just  noticed.  When  the  Revolution  commenced, 
soldiers  were  enlisted  for  a  year;  and  when  the  year  ended 
the  army  was  in  reality  dissolved,  and  a  new  one  was  to 
be  formed.  The  soldiers  had,  for  the  most  part,  been 
drawn  from  their  domestic  occupations,  and  when  arms 
were  placed  in  their  hands,  they  had  acted  bravely ; 
but  when  their  time  of  service  expired  they  claimed 
their  discharge,  and  new  soldiers  could  be  procured  only 
through  great  difficulty.  Money — the  sinews  of  war — 
was  wanting,  and  that  was  the  cause  of  many  other 
wants.  If  Congress  issued  paper  money,  it  depreciated. 
If  they  tried  to  borrow,  they  were  refused.  If  they 
called  upon  the  states  to  contribute,  the  states  were  slow 
in  their  movements.  And,  though  the  continental 
money,  issued  by  Congress,  was  of  great  and  essential 
service,  in  rallying  the  strength  of  the  country  in  the 
cause  of  the  Revolution,  yet  the  want  of  a  national  trea 
sury  kept  the  army  in  a  state  of  imperfect  organization. 
Hence,  during  the  whole  period  of  the  war,  the  painful 
and  most  embarrassing  part  of  the  struggle  was  to  main 
tain  the  appearance  of  an  army.  It  underwent  an  annual 
reconstruction,  and  consequently  required  an  annual  re- 
drilling.  Congress  might  vote  pay,  clothing,  bounties, 
and  battalions  ;  but  General  Washington  was  usually  in 
the  field  with  unpaid,  ill-clothed,  discontented  skeletons 
of  regiments.  With  such  materials  he  was  required  to 


THE    REVOLUTION.  211 

oppose  a  well  officered,  well  organized,  and  well  paid 
British  army.  He  constantly,  through  the  whole  con 
test,  urged  Congress,  by  every  consideration  of  policy, 
justice,  and  patriotism,  to  provide  the  means  for  paying 
the  officers,  and  establishing  a  permanent  army.  But, 
though  Congress  acted  from  motives  of  the  purest  patri 
otism,  it  lacked  the  means  to  comply  with  his  urgent 
entreaties  ;  and  the  wrar  was  waged  with  such  troops  as 
could  be  obtained  for  a  campaign.  Animated  by  devo 
tion  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  many  citizens  through  the 
colonies  hastened  to  the  revolutionary  camp,  and  when 
a  short  term  of  service  was  expired,  they  hastened  home 
again  to  supply  the  pressing  wants  of  their  families. 

Considered  in  a  mere  military  point  of  view,  the  em 
barrassments  and  dangers  arising  from  this  unceasing 
fluctuation  of  the  army,  were  of  the  most  serious  cha 
racter.  The  moral  grandeur  of  General  Washington  is 
nowhere  more  luminously  exhibited,  than  in  his  unremit 
ting  efforts  to  keep  together  the  unpaid  and  ill-furnished 
troops  of  the  Revolution.  The  same  benign  Providence, 
however,  which  preserved  the  colonies  in  their  infancy, 
now  prepared  a  man  of  wisdom  to  preserve  their  armies 
in  the  poverty  of  their  manhood.  To  estimate  his  merits 
and  worth,  we  must  view  him  at  the  head  of  a  continu 
ally  dissolving  and  unpaid  army. 

III.  Another  adverse  circumstance  in  the  military 
part  of  the  Revolution,  is  to  be  found  in  the  want  of  a 
well  organized  general  government.  When  the  thirteen 
colonies  determined  to  dissolve  their  connexion  with 
Great  Britain,  there  was  no  political  union  among  them. 
According  to  the  generally  received  theory,  each  was  an 
appendage  to  the  British  crown,  or  rather  an  independent 
province  of  the  British  Empire,  and  owed  allegiance  to 
the  king  as  their  paramount  lord.  In  the  days  of  their 


212  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

infancy  there  had  not  been  much  communication  between 
them ;  but,  as  they  grew  up  and  acquired  strength,  they 
became  acquainted  with  each  other's  wishes,  and  there 
sprang  up  between  them  a  union  of  sympathy.  But  yet 
there  was  no  political  union  among  them  ;  each  colony 
was  disconnected  with  the  others,  except  in  so  far  as 
they  were  united  by  being  bound  in  allegiance  to  the 
same  sovereign.  When  the  oppression  of  Great  Britain 
roused  them  to  assert  their  independence,  their  first 
measure  was  to  unite  and  form  one  common  power,  and 
under  the  force  of  this  union  to  make  common  cause 
against  the  enemy.  This  was  an  obvious  suggestion  of 
reason  and  policy  ;  and  the  several  colonies  accordingly 
appointed  delegates  to  a  general  congress.  By  this 
movement  they  organized  a  revolutionary  union,  of 
which  Congress  became  the  organ,  and  pulsating  centre. 
That  body  assembled  in  A.  D.  1774,  became  the  deposi 
tory  of  colonial  power,  undertook  the  management  of 
the  Revolution,  and  through  trials  and  tribulations 
guided  the  American  people  during  the  whirlwind,  storm, 
and  starvation,  of  eight  years'  warfare.  By  this  process 
there  was  formed  a  union  in  fact  among  the  three  mil 
lions  of  inhabitants,  who  were  scattered  over  the  hills 
and  valleys,  and  along  the  rivers  and  bays,  from  Massa 
chusetts  to  Georgia.  This  was  a  voluntary — a  sponta 
neous  union ;  and  Congress,  being  the  body  through 
which  it  put  forth  its  power,  and  being,  also,  a  body 
which  acted  without  law  or  written  constitution,  had 
authority  to  provide  for  the  general  interests  just  so  long 
as  the  people  approved  of  its  acts. 

And  yet  there  was  a  great  feebleness  and  languid  de 
bility  in  this  revolutionary  government.  The  mode  of 
its  organization,  and  the  limited  nature  of  its  authority, 
often  rendered  its  acts  useless.  Congress,  might  vote, 


:  THE   REVOLUTION.  213 

and  often  did  vote,  to  raise  a  revenue,  organize  an  army, 
and  furnish  the  munitions  of  war.     But  how  were  these 
resolutions  to  be  carried  into   effect?     By  Congress? 
Not  at  all  ?     The  states  were  the  purse-holders,  and  each 
state  contributed  or  refused,  according  to  its  own  par 
ticular  views  of  the  general  warfare.     If  the  acts  of  Con 
gress  coincided  with  the  wishes  of  a  state — the  state 
obeyed.     If  not — not.     Sometimes,  also,  the  legislation 
of  a  state  conflicted  with  the  legislation  of  Congress. 
Whenever  this  occurred,  the  state  legislation  prevailed ; 
for  Congress  wras  the  creature  of  the  states,  and  without 
their  continued  assent  could  effect  nothing.     Congress 
was,  it  is  true,  the  central  power  of  the  Revolution  ;  but 
still  it  was  a  weak  power.     It  might  plan,  counsel,  de 
bate,  vote,  make  paper   money,  appoint   officers,  and 
direct  campaigns ;   but  the  whole  machinery  was  still 
useless,  unless  the  states  came  up  to  the  work.     Such 
jarring,  such  feebleness,  such  dependence  upon  thirteen 
different  heads,  was  a  most  serious  evil.     A  well  orga 
nized  general  government,  with  power  to  execute  what 
it  decreed,  would  have  infused  vastly  more  energy  into 
the  military  part  of  the  Revolution.     The  feebleness  of 
the  central  government  compelled  General  Washington 
to  have  frequent,  and  even  unceasing  recourse  to  the 
several  states  ;  and  his    military  operations  were   con 
stantly  embarrassed  by  the  discordant  views  of  thirteen 
state    legislatures.     The    central   government   had   not 
power  or  means  even  to  supply  provisions  for  the  army ; 
and  Washington  and  his  officers  were  frequently  com 
pelled  to  levy  military  contributions  from  the  inhabitants, 
to  preserve  the  soldiers  from  starvation. 

IV.  Another  adverse  circumstance  in  the  military 
part  of  the  Revolution,  is  to  be  found  in  the  great  extent 
of  our  country  exposed  to  invasion  from  the  sea-coast. 


214  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Navigable  rivers  opened  highways  for  British  armies  into 
the  heart  of  the  country.  The  St.  Lawrence,  the  Hud 
son,  the  Delaware,  the  Chesapeake,  the  Potomac,  the 
James  River,  and  others,  invited  British  ships  to  enter, 
and  enabled  British  forces  to  intersect  the  country. 
Hence,  the  usual  policy  of  the  British  commanders  was 
to  carry  their  troops  from  one  point  to  another  by  sea. 
The  colonies  having  no  naval  power,  were  unable  to 
prevent  the  transportation  of  British  soldiers  from  New 
York  to  Charleston,  or  Norfolk,  or  wherever  else  the 
plan  of  a  campaign  on  the  sea-coast  required.  As  an 
example  of  the  exposed  condition  of  the  country  from 
its  navigable  rivers  and  exposed  sea-coast,  it  may  be 
sufficient  to  mention  the  well  known  operations  along 
the  Hudson.  The  British  being  in  possession  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  had,  by  the  Hudson  river,  a  channel 
of  communication  deep  into  the  country.  This  tempted 
them  to  the  project  of  sending  an  army  from  Canada,  by 
way  of  Lake  Champlain,  to  co-operate  with  another,  from 
New  York,  by  way  of  the  Hudson.  This  project  was 
the  same  as  that  undertaken  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  the 
design,  in  each  case,  was  to  separate  New  England  from 
the  other  states,  and,  by  destroying  the  communication 
between  the  northern  and  middle  provinces,  conquer 
each  in  detail.  But  the  attempt  was,  in  both  cases,  a 
failure.  Burgoyne  advancing  from  the  north,  found 
willows,  instead  of  laurels,  at  Saratoga  ;  and  the  plan 
was  abandoned.  Similar  projects,  though  of  less  magni 
tude,  were,  on  account  of  the  intersected  nature  of  the 
country,  attempted  at  other  points  along  the  Atlantic 
coast. 

V.  Another  adverse  circumstance  in  the  military  part 
of  the  Revolution,  is  to  be  found  in  the  border  warfare 
of  the  Indians.  When  the  English  colonies  began  to 


THE   REVOLUTION.  215 

establish  themselves  along  the  Atlantic,  the  great  Indian 
power  of  North  America,  was  the  Iroquois,  or  Six  Na 
tions,  whose  head-quarters  were  immediately  south  of 
Lake  Ontario.  From  that  central  region  they  extended 
their  authority  towards  the  east,  and  south,  and  south 
west  ;  and  held  in  a  state  of  vassalage  nearly  all  the 
tribes  along  the  Atlantic,  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Flo 
rida.  Another  branch  of  their  dominions,  with  its  subject 
chiefs,  lay  on  the  western  side  of  the  Alleghanies,  and 
reached  for  more  than  a  thousand  miles  along  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi.  Over  this  immense  region,  the  Six  Na 
tions,  from  their  great  council  at  Onondago,  extended 
their  authority,  and  held  in  subjection  numerous  petty 
tribes.  During  all  the  earlier  colonial  operations  in 
North  America,  they  were  friends  of  the  English,  and 
implacably  hostile  to  the  French.  In  the  seven  years' 
war,  however,  the  French  gained  their  alliance  and  aid ; 
but  when  that  war  had  annihilated  the  French  power  in 
America,  the  Six  Nations  returned  to  their  first  love,  and 
again  became  the  friends  and  allies  of  the  English.  At 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  these  powerful  sa 
vages  became  the  objects  of  intense  interest  to  both  the 
contending  parties — Great  Britain  attempting  to  purchase 
their  aid,  and  the  colonies  their  neutrality.  In  this  race 
for  the  good  will  of  the  Indians,  the  colonies  failed, 
because  they  had  not  the  means  to  furnish  them  with 
such  presents  as  were  offered  by  the  British.  This  ina 
bility  was  the  more  deplorable,  because  the  influence  of 
the  Six  Nations  was  sufficient  to  bring  against  the  colonies 
all  the  Indians  on  the  north  and  west.  This  in  fact  oc 
curred.  From  the  Mohawk  river,  round  by  the  lakes, 
and  far  down  the  Ohio,  bold  Indians  became  the  allies 
of  the  British  sovereign  ;  and  the  tomahawk  of  the  child 
of  the  wilderness  was  wielded  to  desolate  the  towns,  the 


216  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

fruitful  fields,  and  the  retired  home  of  the  American  citi 
zen.  Fierce  savages  began  to  yell  along  the  western 
slope  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  threatened  to  de 
solate  the  western  settlements  of  Virginia  and  Pennsyl 
vania,  and,  indeed,  to  destroy  every  vestige  of  colonial 
power  in  the  west.  Congress  tried  treaties  with  them, 
and  was  disappointed.  They  were  corrupted  into  deadly 
foes,  and  threatened  serious  consequences  to  the  cause 
of  independence.  Their  irruption  into  the  valley  of 
Wyoming,  and  destruction  of  that  district,  caused  Con 
gress  to  undertake  measures  for  their  reduction.  An 
expedition  planned  against  their  head-quarters,  on  the 
north  and  west  of  New  York,  was  successfully  executed 
by  General  Sullivan.  A  similar  expedition  against  them 
in  the  west,  on  the  Wabash  and  Illinois,  was  executed 
by  the  enterprising  Clarke,  and  its  success  broke  the 
plans  and  power  of  the  Indians,  and  saved  the  western 
regions  of  the  states.  But  this  border  warfare  of  the 
Revolution  contains  the  most  thrilling  incidents  of  that 
excited  period.  Its  origin  may  be  readily  traced  to  the 
moneyless  condition  of  the  colonies  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  and  it  was  a  great  embarrassment  to  the  Revo 
lution. 

VI.  Another  adverse  circumstance  in  the  Revolution, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  divisions  which  existed  among  the 
colonists.  I  refer  to  the  Tories.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
colonies  had  suffered  much  from  Great  Britain  ;  but  they 
were  by  no  means  united  in  their  opposition,  when  that 
opposition  eventuated  in  open  war.  Many  still  cast  their 
eyes  to  Britain  as  the  land  of  their  birth,  and  in  their  far 
away  homes  in  the  New  World,  cherished  a  fond  re 
membrance  of  those  dear  old  times  when  they  were  so 
unhappy.  Others  who  had  entertained  shadowy,  unde 
fined  notions  of  the  sacredness  of  royal  power,  were 


THE    REVOLUTION.  217 

timid,  and  recoiled  from  any  participation  in  the  con 
test.  Others  again  passed  from  one  side  to  another, 
being  one  day  Britons  and  the  next  Americans ;  veering 
round  according  to  their  visions  of  success,  or  prospects 
of  gain.  Hence  tories,  cow-boys,  and  other  useless  and 
injurious  descriptions  of  persons,  were  found  throughout 
the  country.  Many  believed,-  and  many  pretended  to 
believe,  that  their  oath  of  allegiance  prevented  them  from 
taking  up  arms  against  their  lawful  sovereign.  These 
adherents  to  the  royal  cause  were  a  serious  hindrance 
to  the  movements  of  the  revolutionary  machinery. 

Such  were  the  adverse  circumstances  through  which 
the  war  of  the  Revolution  was  waged.  The  want  of 
money,  or  rather  the  want  of  a  national  treasury  and  na 
tional  property,  was  at  the  foundation  of  all  the  difficul 
ties.  For,  if  Congress  had  possessed  the  means  of  pay 
ment,  the  organization  of  an  army  could  readily  have 
been  maintained,  the  neutrality  of  the  Indians  purchased, 
the  tories  converted  to  republicans,  the  main  passes  from 
the  sea-board  to  the  interior  defended ;  and  the  power 
of  Congress,  though  in  other  respects  weak,  would  have 
been  adequate  to  the  necessities  of  the  Revolution.  But 
in  the  actual  condition  of  affairs,  patriotism  and  conti 
nental  money  were  the  main  resources  of  the  revolution 
ary  government.  To  appreciate  the  exertions  of  the 
revolutionary  fathers,  their  means  of  warfare  must  not 
be  forgotten. 

Providence,  however,  in  his  benign  dispensations, 
sends  the  sweet  with  the  bitter.  The  cloud  by  day,  the 
pillar  of  fire  by  night,  and  the  stream  of  water,  followed 
the  families  of  Israel  in  all  their  journeys  through  the 
great  and  terrible  wilderness.  Hope  led  the  wanderers  on 
ward.  The  same  bountiful  Providence  prepared  favoura 
ble  elements  for  the  Revolution  ;  and,  in  the  darkest  hour, 
T 


218  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

hope  loomed  through  the  clouds  of  adversity.  A  little 
stream  of  heavenly  bounty  ran  along  the  whole  path 
way  of  revolutionary  events,  and  favourable  circumstances 
compensated  for  the  evils  which  we  have  just  enume 
rated.  What  were  these  favourable  circumstances  ? 

I.  The  first  is  to  be  found  in  the  ardour  and  character 
of  the  good  people  of  the  colonies.  Virtue  and  intelli 
gence,  the  essential  elements  of  every  republican  people, 
were  extensively  diffused  through  the  colonial  masses. 
The  earlier  emigrants  were,  for  the  most  part,  men  of  stern, 
upright  integrity  ;  and  in  their  faith  and  practice  were,  in  a 
peculiar  and  emphatic  sense,  a  religious  people.  Their 
descendants,  and  those  who  followed  them  across  the 
Atlantic  prior  to  the  Revolution,  were,  in  general,  men 
of  like  passions  and  hopes  with  themselves.  Basing  their 
political  upon  their  religious  creed,  they  infused  into 
both  that  liberal  spirit,  whose  manifestations  it  had  been 
their  delight  to  trace  in  Divine  revelation.  Their  learn 
ing,  their  political  notions,  and  their  faith,  were  all  of 
the  same  tincture,  and  all  derived  their  hue  from  the 
same  Divine  illumination. 

In  the  north,  New  England  had  her  schools,  and  col 
leges,  and  churches  ;  and  divine  and  political  truth  was 
there  widely  diffused.  The  rainbow  of  heavenly  hope 
curled  its  graceful  arch  above  the  moral  horizon.  Such 
light  and  faith  soon  produced,  in  the  northern  colonies, 
a  popular  character,  wrhose  most  distinctive  features 
were  a  determination  calm  and  unchangeable,  an  energy 
deep,  quiet,  and  irresistible,  and  a  conduct  guided  by 
intelligent  views  of  justice,  religion,  and  liberty.  This 
character  was  matured  by  the  time  the  colonies  were 
ready  to  assert  their  independence  ;  and  New  England 
entered  into  the  contest  with  patriotic  devotion.  Mas 
sachusetts  became  the  focus  of  resistance  to  English  im- 


THE   REVOLUTION.  219 

positions ;  and,  when  the  Revolution  commenced,  that 
colony,  true  to  its  character,  put  all  its  energy  into  the 
cause,  and  maintained  its  integrity  through  the  storm 
and  fire  of  the  contest. 

A  similar  devotedness  to  the  Revolution  was  found 
in  other  colonies.  Virginia  entered  into  the  struggle 
with  heart  and  soul,  and  purse  and  muscle.  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Charleston,  were  succes 
sively  in  the  possession  of  the  British ;  but  the  capture 
of  towns  was  not  to  decide  the  war.  The  force  of  the 
Revolution  lay  in  the  country,  and  received  its  aid  from 
the  devotion  of  the  populace.  The  commercial  cities 
had  done  much  to  begin  the  open  resistance  ;  but  Vir 
ginia  had  no  commercial  cities,  and  yet  that  colony  wras 
first  and  last  in  the  battle.  The  whole  country  was 
moved  in  its  deepest  recesses ;  and  from  the  log  cabins 
of  the  back-woods,  from  the  swamps  of  the  south,  and 
from  the  hills  of  the  north,  there  was  an  ardour,  a  devo 
tion,  and  a  determination,  among  the  popular  masses, 
which  administered  greatly  to  the  Revolution.  Even  the 
soldiers  forgot  their  sufferings  in  their  devotion  to  the 
cause,  and  every  roar  of  the  hostile  cannon  infused  new 
energy  into  the  suffering  colonists. 

This  ardour  and  self-sacrificing  disposition  was  in 
harmony  with  the  character  of  the  people.  They  were 
intelligent  in  political  matters,  and  knew  the  rights  of 
freemen.  They  had  resisted  oppression  ;  and  now,  when 
called  upon,  they  endured  sacrifices  rather  than  abandon 
their  liberties.  They  saw,  in  subjection  to  Britain,  a 
return  to  Egypt;  and  they  had  eaten  enough  of  the  bitter 
bread  of  bondage.  They  hoped  to  free  themselves  from 
a  power  which  had  never  sympathized  with  them,  and 
now  desired  to  tyrannize  over  them ;  and  they  trusted 
that  a  benign  Providence  would  not  disappoint  their 


220  ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

hope.  Enlightened  by  this  knowledge,  and  animated 
by  this  hope,  this  faith,  and  this  patriotism,  they  spread 
the  eagle  of  liberty  on  Bunker  Hill,  and  halted  not  in 
their  march  till  they  played  Yankee  Doodle  on  the  heights 
of  Yorktown. 

II.  Another  favourable  circumstance  in  the  Revolu 
tion,  is  to  be  found  in  the  wisdom  of  Congress.  We 
have  already  represented  that  body  as  the  organ  of  the 
thirteen  colonies,  and  the  central  power  that  undertook 
the  management  of  the  Revolution.  The  energy  and 
wrisdom  of  the  men  who  composed  it,  have  often  been 
the  subject  of  deserved  praise.  They  had  not  only  to 
provide  the  material  of  an  army,  but  also  to  exercise  the 
more  difficult  task  of  encouraging  the  states  to  support 
the  Revolution.  The  appointment  of  officers,  the  pro 
visions  and  pay  of  the  soldiers,  and  the  entire  machinery 
of  the  Revolution,  in  its  internal  affairs,  was  under  their 
guardianship.  The  external  part  of  the  Revolution,  the 
interest  of  foreign  nations  in  the  matter,  the  procuration 
of  allies  from  abroad,  all  this,  also,  devolved  upon  Con 
gress  ;  and  that  body  managed  all  these  difficult  matters 
with  wisdom,  moderation,  and  energy.  In  the  darkest 
hour  of  revolutionary  adversity,  those  patriots  remembered 
their  duty.  Chased  from  Philadelphia,  they  assembled 
at  Baltimore  ;  and,  when  driven  from  that  city,  they  as 
sembled  at  Lancaster.  They  provided  as  best  they 
could  for  officers  and  soldiers ;  and,  like  watchmen  on 
the  walls  of  their  besieged  country,  they  gave  warning 
of  threatened  dangers,  and  pointed  out  the  means  of 
avoiding  impending  calamities.  In  illustration  of  their 
energy  and  wisdom,  fix  your  mind  upon  the  condition 
of  the  country,  when  the  first  retreat  across  New  Jersey 
placed  Washington  and  his  army  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Delaware.  Philadelphia  was  threatened — the  army  was 


THE    REVOLUTION.  221 

melting  away — the  soldiers  were  murmuring — the  offi 
cers  were  dissatisfied — the  country  on  the  north  was  de 
solated —  and  the  British  forces  seemed  everywhere 
triumphant.  Through  all  this  uproar  of  the  elements, 
Congress  acted  with  energy,  with  wisdom,  and  with  a 
calm  dignity  and  determination,  which  breathed  renewed 
life  into  frightened,  drooping  Freedom. 

III.  Another  favourable  circumstance  in  the  Revolu 
tion,  is  to  be  found  in  the  happy  selection  of  men  to 
whom  the  conduct  of  the  military  affairs  was  committed. 
During  the  forty  years  preceding  the  Declaration  of  In 
dependence,  Europe  had  been  embroiled  in  wars,  long, 
fierce,  and  bloody.  But  the  North  American  colonies 
were  strangers  to  the  military  science  which  had  been 
employed  in  those  contests  ;  and,  when  the  Revolution 
commenced,  there  were  few  men  in  the  country  who 
were  practically  acquainted  with  the  military  tactics  that 
had  been  employed  in  the  armies  in  Europe.  The  co 
lonists  had  acquired  some  knowledge  of  the  military  art 
in  the  seven  years'  war ;  but  the  officers  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  in  the  commencement  of  the  contest,  had  recourse 
to  the  directions  of  good  native  sense,  rather  than  to  the 
matured  rules  of  the  military  science.  Europe,  how 
ever,  sent  her  officers  to  aid  in  the  cause  of  freedom. 
From  Poland  came  Pulaski  and  Kosciusko,  and  contri 
buted  their  intelligence  and  their  military  skill ;  from 
Germany  came  De  Kalb  and  Steuben,  and  aided  to  or 
ganize  our  armies  and  fight  our  battles ;  France  sent 
Rochambeau  and  La  Fayette.  But  though  these  and 
other  foreign  officers  contributed  military  science  and 
valour,  yet  in  the  Revolution,  as  in  all  other  contests  for 
liberty,  it  was  known  and  felt  in  America  that 

"  In  native  swords,  and  native  ranks, 
The  only  hope  of  courage  dwells." 


222  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

The  eulogium  of  Washington  need  not  now  be  written. 
His  duties  as  commander-in-chief,  though  most  arduous, 
were  performed  with  a  wisdom  and  decision  suited 
to  their  importance.  The  Revolution  needed  such  a 
man  ;  for  his  integrity,  patriotism,  and  sound  judgment, 
both  in  the  field  and  in  the  council,  rendered  him  the 
man  capable  of  defending  the  country,  so  far  as  that 
defence  depended  upon  a  single  individual.  He  lives 
in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen — a  whole  nation  is  his 
monument. 

Among  his  associates  in  the  conduct  of  military 
affairs,  were  Greene,  and  Lee,  and  Morgan,  and  Sullivan, 
and  Wayne,  and  others,  whose  energy  and  love  of 
country  infused  vigour  into  the  revolutionary  armies. 
And  among  the  many  men  on  whom  the  conduct  of  the 
wrar  devolved,  there  was  a  singular  combination  of  the 
qualities  needed  in  such  a  crisis.  All  were  devoted  to 
the  Revolution — Arnold  excepted,  and  Convvay  not 
counted. 

IV.  Another  favourable  circumstance  in  the  Revolu 
tion,  is  to  be  found  in  the  alliances  which  the  colonies 
formed  with  the  nations  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 
The  years  1776  and  1777  were  the  wintry,  stormy  days 
of  the  Revolution ;  but  when  darkness  which  might  be 
felt  had  brooded  for  a  time  over  the  land,  the  star  of 
a  better  hope  dawned  in  the  east.  The  aid  of  France 
had  been  invoked  by  the  colonies  at  the  commencement 
of  the  contest ;  but  that  power  being  at  peace  with  Great 
Britain,  was  not  disposed,  immediately,  to  break  up  the 
amicable  relations  of  the  two  nations.  In  consequence 
of  this  wish  on  the  part  of  France,  the  colonies  obtained 
no  public  aid  from  her,  until  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne 
changed  the  tide  of  American  disasters.  But  though 
she  gave  them  no  direct  and  open  assistance,  she  assured 


THE   REVOLUTION.  223 

them  of  her  good  will,  and  permitted  her  citizens  to  ex 
tend  their  private  aid  to  them.  It  was  manifest,  how 
ever,  that  the  remembrance  of  her  former  losses  in  Ame 
rica  would  lead  her  to  take  part  with  them,  so  soon  as  a 
convenient  opportunity  should  arrive.  We  have  already 
stated  that  the  colonial  and  commercial  rivalry  of  France 
and  England  precipitated  them  into  a  war,  which  ended 
in  depriving  France  of  Canada,  and  of  all  her  possessions 
in  North  America,  east  of  the  Mississippi.  These  events 
disposed  her  to  join  her  lilies  to  our  stars  ;  for,  having 
been  stripped  by  Great  Britain  of  her  colonial  possessions, 
she  was  well  pleased  when  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence  announced  the  resolution  of  the  thirteen  colonies 
to  dissolve  their  connexion  with  the  parent  country. 
Their  success  would  deprive  Britain  of  her  colonial  as 
cendency,  and  restore  the  equilibrium  of  the  two  nations 
in  the  New  World.  To  accomplish  this,  to  sever  the 
cord  which  bound  the  American  colonies  to  Great  Bri 
tain,  was,  therefore,  an  all-powerful  motive  with  France. 
Her  pride,  her  interest,  and  her  national  revenge,  were 
alike  enlisted  to  bring  about  such  a  result.  Accordingly, 
when  the  intelligence  reached  her  that  Burgoyne  had 
surrendered,  and  that  the  Revolution  would  probably 
succeed,  she  recognised  the  independence  of  the  colo 
nies,  and  concluded  a  treaty  with  them.  This,  as  was 
foreseen,  produced  immediately  a  declaration  of  war 
against  her,  by  Great  Britain  ;  and,  as  a  consequence, 
French  ships,  soldiers,  and  officers,  came  to  help  the 
colonies.  This  was  a  great  gain  to  the  cause  of  the  Re 
volution — But  other  allies  were  soon  added. 

Instigated  by  France,  and  desirous  of  revenging 
former  injuries,  Spain  also  declared  war  against  Great 
Britain,  and  joined  in  the  strife.  She  was  ambitious  of 
repossessing  herself  of  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar,  where  the 


224  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

British  flag  then  waved  ;  and  the  war  in  which  England 
was  now  engaged,  presented  a  favourable  opportunity 
for  asserting  her  rights  to  her  former  territory. 

But  still  another  ally  was  added.  The  colonial 
envoy,  Mr.  Laurens,  having  been  captured  by  an  Eng 
lish  ship,  papers  were  found  with  him,  which  intimated 
that  Holland,  old  liberty-loving,  cheese-making  Holland, 
was  friendly  to  the  cause  of  American  Independence. 
The  proof  was  conclusive,  the  sin  unpardonable  ;  and 
Great  Britain  forthwith  declared  war  against  Holland. 
She  thus  voluntarily  added  the  aristocratic  republic  of 
the  north  to  her  already  numerous  enemies,  and  re 
solved  to  fight  all  Western  Europe,  and  her  American 
colonies  besides.  This  conduct  was  pretty  tolerably 
bold,  and  required  success  to  characterize  it  as  wise. 

Thus  the  theatre  of  the  strife  was  enlarged ;  and 
France,  Spain,  Holland,  and  the  American  colonies, 
were  engaged  against  Great  Britain.  In  this  array  of 
the  hostile  parties,  battles  were  fought  in  Europe,  on  the 
Atlantic,  in  the  West  Indies,  in  the  Mediterranean,  and 
through  the  American  colonies.  The  armies  and  fleets 
of  so  many  powers  gave  full  employment  to  all  the 
forces  of  Great  Britain  ;  and,  from  the  year  1777,  the 
subjection  of  the  colonies  was  a  very  remote  possibility. 
Great  Britain  alone,  with  a  long  purse,  filled  with 
wealth,  from  Hindostan  and  the  West  Indies,  would 
have  proved  a  vigorous  and  formidable  foe.  But  when 
France,  Spain,  and  Holland,  were  thrown  into  the  scale 
with  the  thirteen  colonies,  the  contest  was  changed,  and 
the  success  of  the  Revolution  rendered  exceedingly  pro 
bable. 

This  combination  of  European  enemies  against  Great 
Britain,  in  her  war  with  the  colonies,  was  a  result  which 
the  events  of  a  century  had  prepared.  The  colonial 


THE   REVOLUTION.  225 

rights  and  territories  of  all  those  powers  had  been  in 
vaded  by  England,  who  had  driven  France  from  the  St. 
Lawrence,  Holland  from  the  Hudson,  and  made  nume 
rous  aggressions  upon  the  colonial  commerce  of  Spain. 
It  was,  therefore,  in  accordance  with  the  usual  course  of 
human  events,  that  these  nations,  who  had  all  suffered  in 
the  same  manner  from  a  common  foe,  should  be  found 
combined  in  a  contest,  whose  design  was  to  do  for  Britain 
what  she  had  done  for  her  neighbours.  Such  a  combi 
nation  in  fact  occurred ;  and  American  independence 
was  aided  by  passions  and  events  wThich  made  three 
powerful  nations  the  allies  of  the  rebels.  Thus  did 
the  invasions  of  the  colonial  system  of  Europe,  which 
were  commenced  by  England  against  other  nations, 
finally  bring  a  concentration  of  forces  to  deprive  her  of 
her  own  colonial  possessions,  and  procure  for  the  Revo 
lution,  friends  and  allies  in  Europe. 

V.  Another  favourable  circumstance  in  the  Revolu 
tion,  is  to  be  found  in  the  strong  party  in  Britain  who 
were  friendly  to  the  colonists.  Through  the  war  it  was 
not  forgotten  in  England,  that  the  Americans  had  drawn 
their  love  of  liberty,  and  the  outlines  of  their  political 
organization,  from  the  British  islands  ;  and  the  question 
was  asked,  where  would  liberty  in  Britain  be,  if  tyranny 
was  established  in  America  ?  A  strong  party,  therefore, 
in  England,  became  friendly  to  the  cause  of  America ; 
and  their  friendship  was,  perhaps,  not  abated  by  the  fact, 
that  they  were,  in  general  politics,  opposed  to  another 
party  at  home — the  tories.  Many  of  the  whigs  in  Eng 
land  represented  the  cause  of  the  colonies  as  the  cause 
of  English  liberty ;  and  in  the  early  stages  of  the  dispute, 
while  it  was  yet  all  heart-break  and  no  bloodshed,  they 
besought  their  government  to  grant  the  demands  of  the 
colonies  for  a  redress  of  grievances.  When  independ- 


226  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

ence  was  declared,  the  Whigs  still  asked  the  govern 
ment  to  cease  the  strife,  and  make  the  best  bargain  pos 
sible  with  the  colonies.  Fox,  and  Pitt,  and  Burke, 
and  Barre,  and  Conway,  have  been  identified  with  those 
who  were  friendly  to  America.  To  what  extent  their 
professed  friendship  was  the  result  of  the  party  warfare 
between  the  whigs  and  tories,  it  is  unnecessary  now  to 
specify.  All  that  it  now  concerns  us  to  represent,  is  the 
fact,  that  the  cause  of  America  was  warmly  espoused 
by  these  and  other  leading  men  in  Britain.  I  do  not 
mean  that  they  advocated  the  independence  of  the  colo 
nies  ;  they  all  stopped  short  of  that  result.  Pitt  would 
have  hanged  all  the  leading  men  in  America,  from  Ge 
neral  Washington  to  the  door-keeper  of  Congress,  rather 
than  dismember  the  British  Empire  by  the  independence 
of  the  colonies.  But  their  opposition  to  the  policy  of  their 
government  in  relation  to  American  affairs,  enfeebled  the 
measures  undertaken  for  the  reduction  of  the  colonies, 
and  promoted  the  Revolution.  Burke  was  the  parlia 
mentary  orator  in  behalf  of  America  ;  but  while  his  elo 
quence  flowed  in  a  profuse  stream,  and  his  argument 
bore  down  all  opposition,  he,  himself,  retreated  from  the 
idea  of  American  independence.  The  unity  of  the  Bri 
tish  Empire  was  an  elemental  truth,  which  even  political 
partyism  in  England  held  sacred,  and  which  cut  through 
and  arrested  the  argument  and  oratory  of  the  parliament 
ary  friends  of  America.  But  the  Revolution  was  fa 
voured  by  their  early  defence  of  its  justice  ;  and  when 
they  abandoned  it,  and  attempted  to  arrest  its  career, 
France,  Spain,  and  Holland,  came  to  its  support. 

Thus  wrere  provided  the  favourable  circumstances 
which  aided  in  bringing  the  military  part  of  the  Revolu 
tion  to  a  successful  termination.  By  the  representation 
just  presented,  these  favourable  circumstances  are  found 


THE    REVOLUTION.  227 

in  the  character  of  the  colonists — in  the  wisdom  of  Con 
gress — in  the  fortunate  selection  of  men  to  conduct  the 
Revolution — in  the  alliances  which  the  colonies  formed 
with  the  nations  of  Europe,  and  in  the  opposition  in 
England  to  the  war.  These  were  the  main  influences 
by  which  the  Revolution  was  sustained.  All  things  are 
set  over  one  against  another,  says  an  old  writer,  when 
comparing  the  Divine  government  with  the  arrangements 
of  external  nature.  Applying  the  idea  to  the  events 
before  us,  we  may  say  that  the  favourable  influences  of 
the  Revolution  were  set  over  against  the  adverse  influ 
ences.  The  spirit  of  evil  was  vanquished,  when  righting 
writh  the  spirit  of  good  for  the  dominion  of  the  world ; 
so,  at  least,  Persian  theology  represented  the  matter. 
In  like  manner,  the  good  influences  of  the  Revolution 
prevailed  over  the  evil.  But  to  the  colonies  it  was  a 
time  of  trial,  of  endurance,  and  of  affliction — afflictions 
to  be  compensated  by  blessings,  extending,  we  trust, 
through  generations  to  come. 

Were  we  to  make  a  military  map  of  the  Revolution, 
we  would  readily  perceive  that  its  campaigns  were  dif 
fused  over  the  whole  geographical  extent  of  the  country. 
Expeditions  were  undertaken  against  Canada  on  the 
north,  and  against  the  Indians  on  the  northwest  and 
west.  Battles  were  fought  in  New  England,  along  the 
Hudson,  in  New  Jersey,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  Mary 
land.  The  Carolinas  and  Georgia  were  scenes  of  the 
most  active  hostilities.  The  James  River  was  the  chosen 
region  of  British  aggression;  and  Virginia,  like  New 
Jersey,  suffered  the  evils  of  an  active  invading  army. 
But  through  all  the  changing  aspects  of  the  contest,  in 
the  hours  of  sorest  adversity,  the  revolutionary  worthies 
still  beheld  the  bow  of  promise. 

American  Independence  was,  however,  involved  in 


228  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

the  contests  which  were  raging  in  Europe.  France  was 
at  war  with  Britain ;  Spain,  under  French  control,  was 
waging  desperate  warfare  for  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar  ;  and 
Holland  was  fighting  for  the  West  Indies.  Peace  between 
America  and  Britain  depended  upon  peace  between 
all  these  belligerents  ;  and  when  Britain,  tired  of  the  con 
test,  was  disposed  to  recognise  the  independence  of  the 
thirteen  colonies,  there  was  danger  that  the  conflicting 
interests  of  the  European  allies  would  prolong  the  strug 
gle.  But  the  failure  of  Spain  in  her  terrible  onslaught 
upon  Gibraltar,  the  defeat  at  Yorktown,  and  the  decided 
tone  of  the  colonial  Congress,  at  length  disposed  all  par 
ties  for  peace.  The  contest  was  changed  from  the  field 
to  the  cabinet ;  and  under  the  direction  and  counselling 
of  Franklin,  and  Adams,  and  Jay,  and  Laurens,  peace 
was  concluded,  and  independence  acknowledged. 

These  were  the  favourable  and  unfavourable  influences 
through  which  the  military  part  of  the  Revolution  was  con 
ducted,  and  under  which  the  cause  of  liberty  triumphed. 
To  the  events  connected  with  this  triumph,  our  republic 
looks  back  with  gratitude  ;  and,  like  every  other  nation, 
clusters  thousands  of  fond  associations  around  the  heroes 
and  martial  deeds  which  ushered  in  the  morning  of  its 
Jairth-day.  Bruce,  and  Wallace,  and  Bannockburn,  are 
names  whose  very  sound  warms  the  heart's-blood  of  the 
Scot,  and  quickens  into  life  and  action  all  the  energies 
of  patriotism.  Saratoga,  Yorktown,  and  Washington, 
are  names  of  similar  power  in  our  own  history ;  and  a 
nation  rises  up  to  rejoice,  when  the  cannon  of  the 
Fourth  of  July  awakens  the  memory  of  revolutionary 
heroism. 

Having  disposed  of  the  military  part  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  we  pass  on  to  a  consideration  of  the  events  which 
characterized  the  latter  part  of  that  period.  Peace  was 


THE    REVOLUTION.  229 

announced  and  independence  acknowledged  by  Britain 
in  the  year  1783.  Six  years  later,  in  1789,  the  present 
national  constitution  went  into  operation,  our  republic 
was  established,  the  Revolution  perfected,  and  the  end 
of  American  colonization  attained.  The  events  of  these 
six  years  belong  to  the  Revolution,  and  form  its  organ 
izing  or  political  part.  For,  to  what  desirable  end 
would  all  the  heroism  of  the  Revolution  have  conducted, 
if  the  country  had  remained  split  up  into  a  number  of 
little  independent  sovereignties  ?  Each  would  have  in 
terfered  with  its  neighbour ;  and,  as  it  was  in  Europe  in 
the  times  when  every  feudal  baron  was  an  independent 
chief,  the  general  prosperity  would  have  been  sacrificed 
to  local  interests.  Popular  government  in  America  re 
quired  the  Revolution  to  bring  about  a  different  result. 
The  end  to  which  the  general  current  of  events  in  Ame 
rican  history  had  moved,  required  that  democracy  should 
be  tried  on  a  large  scale.  Accordingly,  the  Revolution 
closed  in  1789  by  the  construction  of  the  states  into 
a  single  republican  nation.  Let  us  inquire  a  little  into 
the  process  by  which  this  national  organization  was 
effected,  and  this  inquiry  will  conduct  us  to  a  state 
ment  of  the  nature  and  peculiar  features  of  our  republic. 
Whoever  desires  to  form  an  idea  of  our  national  or 
ganization  must  keep  steadily  in  mind  the  independent 
and  disconnected  origin  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  or 
thirteen  states  as  we  may  now  call  them.  From  the 
general  course  of  observations  already  made,  as  well  as 
from  explicit  statements,  we  have  given  considerable 
prominence  to  the  fact,  that  the  colonies,  prior  to  the 
Revolution,  had  no  direct  political  connexion  with  each 
other.  There  was  no  direct  union  between  Virginia  and 
Pennsylvania,  or  Massachusetts,  or  between  any  of  the 
others.  There  was,  however,  an  indirect  political  con- 
u 


230  ORIGIN    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

nexion,  in  their  common  dependence  upon  the  British 
crown.  All  the  colonies  owed  allegiance  to  his  majesty 
the  king.  Consequently,  when  at  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  the  colonies  each  and  all  renounced  this 
allegiance,  and  dissolved  their  connexion  with  their  com 
mon  head,  there  was  no  longer  any  political  union 
among  them,  either  direct  or  indirect.  There  was  a 
union  of  sympathy,  it  is  true ;  for  they  all  derived  their 
origin  from  the  same  parent,  country,  spoke  the  same 
democratic  language,  had  the  same  general  system  of 
laws,  and  had  been  subjected  to  the  same  oppressions. 
But  there  was  no  political  union,  no  legal  cord  binding 
them  together ;  each  was  independent  of  the  rest.  Du 
ring  the  fires  of  the  Revolution,  necessity  forced  them 
together.  They  desired  to  escape  from  the  bondage  of 
Great  Britain ;  and  this  common  desire,  as  well  as  the 
power  of  the  nation  with  which  they  had  to  contend, 
compelled  them  to  make  a  common  defence.  There 
was,  therefore,  in  fact  a  union  among  them  which  was 
coeval  with  their  independence,  and  had  its  origin  in  the 
very  act  that  separated  them  from  Great  Britain.  But 
this  union  was  voluntary  in  its  origin  and  temporary  in 
its  nature :  it  was  merely  a  league  of  states  for  securing 
an  object  of  common  interest,  and  a  league  which,  from 
its  very  nature,  would  be  dissolved  when  that  object 
was  attained.  In  the  process  which  changed  this  tem 
porary  union  into  a  permanent  government,  is  exhibited 
the  great  wisdom  of  the  revolutionary  patriots  and 
statesmen.  The  names  of  Franklin,  and  Adams,  and 
Hamilton,  and  Jefferson,  and  even  of  Washington,  derive 
their  brightest  radiated  circles  of  glory  from  the  share 
which  those  men  had  in  organizing  and  establishing  our 
national  government.  There  is  no  portion  of  our  his 
tory  of  more  intense  interest  or  of  greater  value  than 


THE   REVOLUTION.  231 

that  which  details  this  organizing  process;  a  process 
which  began  indeed  with  the  Revolution,  but  which  was 
not  completed  till  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  in 
1789.  Let  us  examine  it  briefly  in  its  several  stages. 

I.  The  first  attempt  to  form  a  permanent  union  among 
the  states,  resulted  in  that  system  of  government  de 
signated  by  the  name  of  the  Confederation.  When  we 
say  that  this  was  the  first  attempt  to  form  a  union  of 
the  states,  we  do  not  wish  to  cut  out  of  our  history  the 
fact  that  there  had  been  partial  attempts  at  union 
among  some  of  the  colonies  at  a  much  earlier  day. 
One  of  these  attempted  unions  was  the  league  between 
the  New  England  colonies,  which  was  formed  almost 
coeval  with  their  settlement,  and  subsisted  for  nearly 
half  a  century.  During  the  seven  years'  wrar,  attempts 
were  made  to  form  a  league  among  the  colonies  for 
common  defence  against  the  French  and  Indians ;  but 
the  particular  plan  proposed  was  not  received  with 
favour.  Great  Britain  also  grew  alarmed  at  the  power 
which  such  a  confederation  would  give,  and  it  was 
abandoned.  When  the  Revolution  brought  the  colonies 
into  an  actual  union,  measures  were  immediately  taken 
to  render  it  permanent ;  and,  on  the  same  day  that  Con 
gress  appointed  a  committee  to  draft  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  another  committee  wras  appointed  "to 
prepare  and  digest  the  form  of  a  confederation  to  be 
entered  into  between  the  colonies."  The  dangers  of  the 
Revolution,  and  the  difficulties  of  the  country,  prevented 
any  immediate  action  in  the  matter;  and  five  years 
elapsed  before  any  plan  of  union  was  adopted.  In 
1781,  however,  the  Confederation  came  into  being.  Let 
us  examine  a  little  into  its  nature. 

The  prominent,  leading  characteristic  of  the  Con 
federation  consisted  in  the  fact  that  it  was  a  government 


232  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

for  the  thirteen  states  considered  as  states.  It  did  not 
direct  its  legislation  to  individuals,  but  to  sovereign 
states.  Here  \vas  its  weakness  ;  for  states  could  not  be 
punished  for  disobedience.  What  was  the  consequence  ? 
It  said  to  one  state,  "  Go,"  and  it  went  not.  It  said  to 
another  state,  "  Do  this,"  and  it  did  it  not.  Was  money 
wanted  ?  The  Confederation  provided  that  the  states 
should  be  called  upon  to  contribute  money ;  and  they 
contributed  what  they  pleased.  Were  soldiers  wanted  ? 
The  Confederation  provided  that  the  states  should  furnish 
soldiers,  and  the  states  furnished  as  many  or  as  few  as 
they  deemed  proper.  Were  treaties  to  be  made  with 
foreign  nations,  the  confederation  provided  that  Congress 
should  make  treaties.  WThen  made,  the  states  might 
observe  or  violate  them,  as  they  saw  fit.  The  whole 
theory  wras  faulty.  The  very  life  and  soul  of  the  sys 
tem,  if  it  had  any  life  and  soul, .consisted  in  directing 
its  legislation  to  states,  and  not  to  individuals.  A  go 
vernment  to  be  effective  must  have  power  to  enforce 
its  laws ;  but  no  such  power  existed  in  the  confedera 
tion  ;  for  its  legislation  \vas  not  directed  to  individuals, 
but  to  states. 

How  did  such  a  government  operate  in  practice? 
We  might  almost  say  it  did  not  operate  at  all.  The 
defects  just  noticed  were  fatal.  Even  while  the  Revo 
lution  continued  the  confederation  grew  weak.  When 
the  peace  of  independence  was  concluded,  it  grew 
weaker  ;  and  with  every  returning  year  its  powrers  became 
more  and  more  feeble,  till  at  length  it  seemed  ready  to 
expire  from  mere  debility.  As  an  illustration  of  its  in 
adequacy  to  the  wants  of  the  country,  take  the  condition 
of  commerce  during  this  first  form  of  union.  We  have 
represented  the  restrictions  of  Great  Britain  upon  the 
commerce  of  the  colonies  as  the  long  operating  cause 


THE   REVOLUTION.  233 

of  the  Revolution.  Now  that  the  Revolution  had  sepa 
rated  us  from  Great  Britain,  \vhat  provision  was  made 
for  the  commerce  of  the  states  ?  There  was  none.  Com 
mercial  regulations  constitute  a  great  portion  of  modern 
legislation  ;  yet  under  the  confederation  Congress  might 
recommend  regulations  for  commerce ;  but  state  inte 
rests  paid  little  attention  to  congressional  recommenda 
tions,  and  the  consequences  were  ruinous  in  the  ex 
treme.  The  war  of  the  Revolution  had  nearly  destroyed 
the  commerce  of  the  country.  Consequently,  the  com 
mercial  interests  of  the  states  required  the  fostering  care 
and  guardianship  of  the  Union.  Britain  still  steadily  pur 
sued  her  commercial  system ;  and,  unless  the  states 
counteracted  her  navigation  acts  by  similar  measures, 
their  traffic  would  still  lie  in  ruins.  But  the  states, 
in  this  as  in  most  other  matters,  had  conflicting  interests 
and  no  unity  of  action.  If  Virginia  tried  to  protect  her 
tobacco  interest,  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  adopted 
interfering  measures.  If  Pennsylvania,  to  protect  her 
iron  interest,  imposed  duties  on  its  importation,  Massa 
chusetts  and  Maryland  admitted  it  duty  free.  If  New 
York  and  the  New  England  states  taxed  foreign  wool 
to  favour  their  own  wool-growers,  the  Carolinas  and 
Virginia  defeated  the  protection  by  importing  wool  and 
wToollen  goods.  By  such  jarring  and  spasmodic  legis 
lation  the  industry  of  the  country  was  prostrated.  Mas 
sachusetts  could  not  cultivate  wool,  Pennsylvania  could 
not  manufacture  iron,  Virginia  could  not  grow  tobacco, 
nor  the  Carolinas  cotton.  The  people  were  sick,  but 
knew  not  what  ailed  them.  Some  of  the  states  had 
been  impoverished,  or  greatly  reduced  by  the  war  of 
the  Revolution  ;  and  the  union  under  the  confederation 
gave  them  no  facilities  of  relief  from  their  distresses. 
There  were  also  many  circumstances  of  a  peculiar 
u* 


234  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

nature,  which  contributed  to  impede  the  little  action 
which  the  confederation  might  have  put  forth.  One  of 
these  impediments  was  the  depreciation  of  the  paper 
money  with  which  the  country  had  been  flooded  during 
the  Revolution.  The  moneyless  condition  of  the  states,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  war,  has  been  already  noticed. 
Congress  tried  to  remedy  this  evil,  by  issuing  the  paper, 
known  as  continental  money.  By  means  of  this  expedi 
ent,  they  had  rallied  the  country  to  the  support  of  the 
Revolution,  and  relieved  their  immediate  and  pressing 
necessities.  Several  of  the  states,  also,  issued  their  own 
paper  money.  But  the  usual  fate  of  government  paper 
attended  all  this  currency.  By  the  time  that  the  con 
federation  was  formally  adopted,  the  continental  money 
and  state  paper  were  fast  running  down.  A  pound  of 
butter  would  sell  for  fifty  dollars,  paper  money ;  two 
hundred  dollars  would  buy  a  breakfast,  ten  thousand  a 
horse,  and  five  hundred  a  hat.  By-and-by  these  prices 
increased.  Acts  of  Congress  attempted  to  maintain  the 
value  of  the  continental  money ;  but  like  the  assignats 
of  the  French  Revolution,  it  would  depreciate  in  defiance 
of  all  legislation.  A  million  of  gold  wrould  have  sup 
ported  it  better  than  a  million  of  congressional  acts. 
But  the  power  which  issued  the  paper  having  no  gold 
or  silver  for  its  redemption,  its  value  continually  de 
creased  ;  and  it  finally  died  in  the  hands  of  the  people, 
to  the  enormous  nominal  amount  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  of  dollars. 

We  notice  these  facts  as  exhibiting  some  of  the  pecu 
liar  circumstances  wrhich  opposed  the  feeble  action  of 
the  Confederation.  With  a  smooth  sea,  and  a  gentle 
breeze,  such  a  ship  of  state  might  have  been  borne  quietly 
along ;  but  in  the  stormy  times  which  closed  and  fol 
lowed  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  a  stronger  vessel  was 


THE   REVOLUTION.  235' 

needed.  In  the  actual  condition  of  the  country  at  that 
time,  an  energetic  general  government  was  required  ; 
but  the  confederation  had  no  energy.  The  bones  in  the 
valley  of  vision,  as  seen  by  the  prophet,  were  not  only 
gathered  together,  clothed  with  muscle,  and  covered 
with  skin,  but  the  breath  of  life  was  breathed  into  them. 
They  then,  and  then  alone,  became  a  great  army.  But 
in  the  Confederation  there  was  a  system,  an  organiza 
tion,  but  no  vitality  or  power. 

This  weakness  of  the  general  government  was,  how 
ever,  in  accordance  with  the  political  ideas  prevalent  in 
the  country  at  the  time  of  its  adoption.  The  states  had 
just  thrown  off  one  governing  power  in  Great  Britain, 
and  they  feared  to  establish  another.  They  were  appre 
hensive  that  a  strong  central  power  would  absorb  the 
little  states.  To  decry  such  a  government  has  always 
been  a  golden  theme  in  our  country,  and  was  a  theme 
particularly  popular  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution. 
The  doctrine  of  state  sovereignty  was  then  highly  es 
teemed.  The  people  looked  upon  a  general  government 
as  a  type — a  faint  type  it  might  be — but  still  a  type  of 
the  British  government,  from  whose  domination  they  had 
just  been  delivered.  They  regarded  the  state  govern 
ments  as  the  guardians  of  liberty,  and  desired  to  inter 
pose  them  as  the  shield  of  protection  aginst  the  tyranny 
of  a  general  government.  These  views  produced  the 
characterizing  feature  of  the  confederation ;  namely,  le 
gislation  for  states,  and  not  for  individuals.  In  a  word, 
the  people  feared  to  part  with  power  in  such  quantities 
as  would  do  them  any  harm  ;  and  in  their  extreme  caution, 
they  did  not  give  to  the  general  government  power  to  do 
them  any  good. 

Is  it  then  matter  of  surprise,  that  experience  soon  an 
nounced  the  Confederation  to  be  a  failure  ?  The  dis- 


236  ORIGIN    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

contents  arising  from  its  debility  grew  alarming.  In 
Massachusetts  open  rebellion  revealed  itself,  and  all 
forms  of  government  were  denounced  as  aristocratic. 
Wise  men  everywhere  saw  that  the  existence  of  liberty, 
and  the  final  establishment  of  the  Revolution,  required  a 
new  and  more  energetic  national  government.  Here 
was  the  great  benefit  of  the  Confederation.  It  taught 
the  people  the  necessity  of  a  stronger  government.  The 
Jewish  ritual  preceded  the  fuller  diffusion  of  Christian 
light.  The  world  had  first  to  learn  what  human  nature 
could  do  under  a  less  perfect  system,  that  it  might  put 
a  proper  value  upon  the  glories  of  that  last  Divine  dis 
pensation,  which  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light. 
In  like  manner,  the  defective  Confederation  preceded  the 
more  perfect  Constitution,  and  taught  men  the  necessity 
of  a  closer  union.  The  instruction  it  gave  was  obeyed  ; 
and,  in  1789,  a  more  perfect  union  was  formed,  by  the 
establishment,  of  the  present  Constitution.  Let  us 
enquire  a  little  into  its  nature  and  characterizing  fea 
tures. 

II.  And  here  it  may  be  proper  to  remark,  that  the 
American  colonies  were  the  first  to  adopt  written  con 
stitutions.  Through  all  the  hubbub,  and  barbarism,  and 
crimes  which  circulated  over  centuries  of  European  his 
tory,  no  attempt  was  made  to  adopt  written  forms  of 
government.  England  at  the  present  hour  has  no  formal 
written  constitution.  What  she  calls  her  constitution  is 
merely  that  body  of  customs  or  usages  which  has 
grown  up  through  a  long  tract  of  time,  and  which  is 
now  recognised  to  be  of  binding  obligation  upon  those 
who  govern  the  country.  Charters  have  been,  on  se 
veral  occasions,  signed  by  English  sovereigns,  German 
emperors,  and  other  princes;  but  these  were  merely 
papers  in  the  nature  of  a  bill  of  rights — documents  ac- 


THE    REVOLUTION.  237 

knowledging  the  privileges  of  the  subject  and  his  free 
dom  from  specified  oppressions.  Europe  might  have 
had  a  different  history  if  her  several  nations  had  esta 
blished  written  constitutions,  prescribing  definitely  the 
rights  of  the  people,  the  rights  of  the  sovereign,  and  the 
frame-work  and  machinery  of  the  government.  This, 
however,  was  not  done  ;  and  the  European  race  required 
centuries  of  strife  to  fight  itself  into  political  shape. 
The  American  colonies,  on  the  contrary,  early  adopted 
written  forms  of  government  in  the  respective  provinces. 
This  practice  was  continued  at  the  Revolution ;  and  the 
several  states  then  either  adopted  specific  constitutions, 
or  continued  to  act  under  charters  and  forms  which 
already  existed.  In  their  united  capacity  the  states  pur 
sued  the  same  plan  ;  and,  after  trying  the  confederation, 
they  framed,  adopted,  and  put  in  operation  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States. 

To  understand  the  nature  of  this  Constitution,  we 
must  remember  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was 
adopted,  and  the  end  .it  was  designed  to  accomplish. 
The  circumstances  which  gave  it  existence  are  familiar 
to  every  American,  and  need  not  be  more  than  cursorily 
suggested  here.  The  confederation  had  been  found  en 
tirely  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  the  Union.  A  conven 
tion  of  a  few  of  the  states,  to  consider  the  condition  of 
commerce,  and  devise  some  system  of  harmonious  ac 
tion  relative  to  that  branch  of  industry,  gave  rise  to  the 
convention  which  framed  the  constitution.  But  the  dif 
ficulties  which  stood  in  the  way  of  a  new  plan  of  union, 
were  many  and  great.  We  have  already  intimated  the 
reasons  wrhich  operated  in  stripping  the  confederation  of 
its  strength.  It  was  feared  that  a  strong  central  govern 
ment  would  tyrannize  over  the  states.  This  fear,  as  we 
have  just  mentioned,  gave  birth  to  the  feeble  confedera- 


238  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

tion,  and  now  it  manifested  itself  in  opposition  to  the 
Constitution.  In  the  convention  which  framed  that  in 
strument,  men  of  powerful  intellect  took  ground  in  favour 
of  the  old  confederation.  They  preferred  weakness  to 
tyranny.  Sectional  interests  also  came  in  collision ; 
southern  slave-holders  feared  the  free  labour  of  the 
north  ;  the  commercial  interests  of  New  England  could 
not  be  reconciled  with  the  peculiar  views  of  the  other 
states.  The  small  states  feared  the  large  ones,  and  de 
sired  a  government  in  which  the  states  should  have  an 
equal  voice.  The  large  states  desired  a  government  in 
which  numbers  alone  should  be  the  rulers.  In  a  word, 
every  shade  of  political  opinion  appeared  in  the  conven 
tion.  The  Constitution  was  a  compromise  of  all  interest, 
and  of  all  theories.  This  gave  it  many  peculiar  features ; 
and  it  is  in  view  of  this  compromise,  that  many  of  its 
provisions  are  to  be  interpreted :  such  as  the  provision 
for  an  equal  representation  of  the  states  in  the  Senate, 
the  representation  of  the  slave  population  of  the  south, 
the  popular  representation  in  the  House  ;  and  other  pe 
culiarities.  From  this  compromise  it  derived  an  origi 
nality,  a  character  of  its  own,  and  also  a  dissimilarity 
from  other  known  forms  of  government.  Questions 
have  been  asked,  whether  the  constitution  is  a  compact 
of  the  states,  or  a  government  on  a  directly  popular 
basis  ?  or  whether  Congress  was  not  modelled  after  the 
British  Parliament,  or  the  States- General  of  France,  or  the 
Cortes  of  Spain,  or  the  States  of  Holland  ?  But  these  in 
quiries  proceed  upon  a  forgetfulness  of  the  circumstances 
which  impressed  a  peculiar  character  upon  our  national 
charter ;  for,  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  compromise 
which  gave  it  existence,  the  constitution  is  neither  a 
compact  of  the  states,  nor  a  directly  popular  government ; 
but  it  is  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  It  has  its 


THE   REVOLUTION.  239 

peculiar  features,  its  originality,  and  a  character  and 
nature  of  its  own ;  all  derived  from  the  circumstances 
in  which  it  came  into  being.  After  its  adoption  by  the 
people  in  state  conventions,  the  new  government  it  cre 
ated  was  organized  by  the  inauguration  of  President 
Washington  in  1789. 

(1.)  The  characterizing  features  of  the  constitution 
you  will  readily  perceive  by  contrasting  it  with  the  con 
federation.  The  confederation  directed  its  legislation 
to  states.  The  constitution,  on  the  contrary,  directed 
its  legislation  to  people,  to  individuals  as  individuals. 
It  did  not  provide  for  raising  armies,  coining  money, 
and  executing  treaties  through  the  medium  of  the  states — 

"  No  more  of  that,  Hal," 

as  old  rollicking  FalstafF  said.  No  more  of  the  con 
demned  farce  of  carrying  on  a  national  government  by 
the  help  of  state  action.  There  had  -been  enough  of 
that.  Accordingly,  the  constitution  directed  its  legisla 
tion  not  to  states,  but  to  individuals.  Here  was  its  first 
distinctive  feature,  a  broad  deep  line  running  across  its 
whole  face.  I  do  not  say  that  in  no  case  is  the  action 
of  the  states  necessary  under  the  constitution ;  for  they 
have  senators  to  appoint,  congressional  districts  to  esta 
blish,  and  other  similar  duties  to  perform.  But  the 
main  machinery  of  the  national  government,  and  the 
execution  of  its  legislative  acts,  are  independent  of  state 
action. 

(2.)  By  comparing  it  with  the  confederation,  we  ob 
serve  in  the  constitution  another  feature  of  equal  exten 
sion  and  distinctness  with  the  one  just  mentioned.  This 
is  the  power  which  it  has  to  compel  obedience  to  its 
laws.  In  other  words,  the  national  government  was 
clothed  with  authority  to  execute  what  it  commanded. 


240  ORIGIN   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

The  old  confederation  might  command  the  states ;  but 
the  states,  like  spoiled  children  fed  on  sugar-plums  and 
other  bonbons,  obeyed  or  disobeyed,  as  they  pleased. 
If  they  obeyed,  they  were  good  dutiful  children,  and 
were  patted  on  the  head  in  token  of  approbation.  If 
they  disobeyed,  they  were  coaxed — if  they  still  dis 
obeyed,  they  were  farther  coaxed  —  if  they  still  dis 
obeyed,  they  were  let  alone.  The  constitution  changed 
all  this.  If  money  was  wanted,  Congress  was  em 
powered  to  raise  money.  If  soldiers  were  needed, 
Congress  was  authorized  to  procure  them.  If  treaties 
were  made,  the  national  government  was  clothed  with 
power  to  execute  them.  If  the  laws  of  Congress  were 
disobeyed,  the  delinquent  was  punished.  In  a  word,  a 
national  government  was  created,  and  clothed  with  power 
to  take  care  of  itself.  The  states  were  left  in  possession 
of  all  authority  not  given  to  this  new  central  organiza 
tion.  They  were  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  their  internal 
governments,  as  though  they  were  independent  sove 
reign  states  ;  being,  however,  bound  to  remain  republics. 
But  the  national  government  \vas  intrusted  with  all  affairs 
of  common  interest;  and  commerce,  peace,  and  war, 
and  kindred  matters,  were  committed  to  its  guardianship. 
Its  limits  are  denned,  and  within  them  it  is  uncontrolled 
by  interference  from  the  states.  Within  its  proper  bounds 
it  is  a  complete  and  self-acting  government,  and  has  full 
power  to  compel  obedience  to  its  commands. 

(3.)  Another  peculiarity  of  the  constitution,  exhibited 
by  contrast  writh  the  confederation,  deserves  to  be  noticed 
in  this  connexion.  Under  the  confederation,  the  execu 
tive,  judicial,  and  legislative  departments  \vere  mingled 
together  and  united  in  one  body.  There  wras  no  pre 
sident  to  take  care  that  the  laws  were  faithfully  executed ; 
no  provision  was  made  for  a  judiciary,  and  no  separa- 


THE   REVOLUTION.  241 

tion  of  legislative  power  into  two  houses.  The  general 
government  was  committed  to  a  congress  which  was 
clothed  with  plenary  powers  to  make  laws  for  states — to 
disobey.  In  the  constitution  these  things  were  other 
wise  ordered.  The  new  government  was  organized  with 
a  distribution  of  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial 
powers  into  separate  departments.  The  experience  of 
the  world  demonstrates  that  such  a  distribution  is  es 
sential  to  good  government ;  and,  even  in  several  na 
tions  where  liberty  leads  a  hard  life,  there  has  been  a 
gradual  approach  to  this  division  of  political  power.  In 
despotisms,  a  single  individual  makes,  construes,  and 
executes  the  lawrs,  or  at  least  has  the  control  of  those 
wrho  are  intrusted  with  these  duties.  But  under  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  these  powers  are  care 
fully  separated  and  distributed  between  the  President, 
the  Courts  of  justice,  and  Congress.  This  distribution 
constitutes  a  deep  and  radical  feature  of  our  national  go 
vernment,  and  is  also  found  in  all  the  state  constitutions. 
We  have  now  enumerated  three  classes  of  provisions 
that  are  elemental  in  the  constitution  of  our  republic : 
namely,  legislation  not  for  states,  but  for  individuals ; 
power  to  enforce  the  laws  of  the  Union ;  and  a  distribu 
tion  of  the  legislature,  judicial,  and  executive  power 
into  three  departments.  But  it  is  apparent  that  the  first 
two  of  these  provisions  are  not  peculiar  to  a  republic  ; 
for  a  monarchy  or  an  autocracy  directs  its  legislation  im 
mediately  to  individuals,  and  executes  its  laws  with 
rigour.  These  provisions  are,  however,  noticed  here 
mainly  in  contrast  with  the  attempts  made  under  the 
Confederation.  We  have  an  American  system — we  have 
the  states  and  the  nation — wheels  within  a  wheel — and 
we  wished  briefly  to  exhibit  the  division  of  political 
power  between  the  states  and  the  national  government, 


242  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

and  to  suggest — merely  to  point  at  the  provisions  by  which 
they  move  on  harmoniously  together.  Were  we  to  draw 
a  contrast  between  our  American  system  and  other  ac 
tually  existing  forms  of  government  in  other  parts  of  the 
world,  we  would  represent  the  peculiarity  in  our  political 
organization  to  be,  that  the  popular  will  is  the  basis  of 
our  whole  political  structure,  both  state  and  national. 
I  do  not  mean  a  popular  will  which  expresses  itself  in 
fitful  actions,  exhibiting  one  phase  yesterday  and  an 
other  to-day.  I  mean  a  popular  will  exhibiting  itself 
soberly  and  orderly  in  the  Constitution  and  Laws.  These 
are  the  expression  of  the  popular  will  in  its  aggregate 
shape  ;  and  our  government  is  merely  the  instrument  or 
machinery,  or  body  through  which  this  will  operates. 
No  divine  right  to  govern  is  recognised,  or  makes  its 
appearance  in  the  system.  The  people  are  the  fountain 
of  power,  and  the  laws  and  constitution  are  their  will  in 
its  collected  form.  This  is  the  marrow  of  our  repub 
lican  system. 

These  are  some  of  the  prominent  features  of  our  con 
stitution.  By  its  adoption  the  thirteen  states  were  united 
into  a  national  government,  and  the  Revolution  was 
completed. 

Were  we  asked  what  was  the  nature  of  the  results 
obtained  by  the  American  Revolution,  we  might  answer 
by  directing  your  attention  to  the  position  which  our  re 
public  occupies  in  the  general  history  of  the  civilization 
of  the  human  race.  We  have  viewed  that  civilization 
as  it  exhibited  itself  in  the  Egyptian  circle  of  nations, 
among  the  Greeks,  in  China,  in  India,  in  native  Mexico, 
and,  finally,  among  the  present  family  of  European  na 
tions.  With  few  exceptions  it  preserved,  in  all  its 
phases  and  changes  among  these  different  people,  certain 
common  features,  among  which  may  be  enumerated  a 


THE   REVOLUTION.  243 

union  of  church  and  state,  and  a  political  power  derived 
from  some  other  source  than  the  popular  will.  The 
principal  exception  to  this  general  statement  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Grecian  states,  which,  in  their  early  days, 
exhibited  the  forms  of  democracy.  The  statement, 
however,  is  in  general  correct,  that  in  all  the  history  of 
the  world,  landed  possessions,  hereditary  descent,  divine 
right,  and  great  wealth,  have  been  the  main  sources  of 
authority  in  religion  and  politics.  Power  so  derived  has 
been  aptly  termed  legitimacy — political  legitimacy  if  it 
is  exercised  in  the  state,  and  ecclesiastical  legitimacy  if 
it  is  exercised  in  the  church.  Legitimacy  is,  conse 
quently,  the  opposite  of  democracy — the  latter  denoting 
power  springing  from  the  will  of  the  people,  and  the 
former  a  power  having  some  other  origin.  The  last  de- 
velopement  of  civilization,  namely,  that  which  presented 
itself  in  the  present  European  race,  has  exhibited  several 
diversities ;  but,  through  all  its  phases  on  European 
ground,  legitimacy  has  prevailed  over  democracy ;  and 
hereditary  descent,  divine  right,  or  accumulated  pro 
perty,  have  been  the  sources  of  authority  in  church  and 
state.  In  confirmation  of  this  statement,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  exhibiting  the  democratic  results  of  our  Re 
volution  by  close  contrast  with  legitimacy,  look  a  mo 
ment  at  the  several  forms  which  the  political  civilization 
of  Europe  successively  assumed. 

Its  first  form  was  in  the  feudal  system :  where,  accord 
ing  to  our  modern  ideas  of  nations,  there  were  no  na 
tions  or  states ;  but  where  all  authority  was  local  and 
particular,  the  feudal  castle  being  the  centre  of  power, 
and  the  boundaries  of  the  feudal  estate  its  circumference. 
Here  there  was  a  legitimacy  resting  upon  barbaric  force 
and  hereditary  descent.  Government  was  patriarchal 
rather  than  political ;  but  the  feudal  patriarchs  were  ba- 


244  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

rons,  counts,  and  nobles  rejoicing  in  other  names — • 
chiefs  who  were  almost  as  intelligent  as  Black  Hawk, 
and  almost  as  civilized  as  Tecumseh. 

The  second  form  of  European  political  civilization 
appeared  under  the  direction  of  the  church :  when  the 
clergy  attempted  to  put  themselves  at  the  head  of  political 
affairs,  and  form  all  Christendom  into  one  vast  empire,  of 
which  the  Roman  pontiff  should  be  the  chief,  "  and 
monarch  of  all  he  surveyed."  Here  there  was  a  legiti 
macy  resting  upon  the  idea  of  a  divine  right.  The  ar 
gument  by  which  it  was  maintained  was  short,  conclu 
sive  to  those  who  believed  it,  and  ran  as  follows :  All 
people  and  kingdoms  belong  to  the  Redeemer  of  the 
world,  who  may  rule  over  them ;  the  Roman  pontiff  is 
his  representative  on  earth,  and  consequently  the  Roman 
pontiff  may  rule  all  people  and  kingdoms  in  behalf  of 
his  Divine  Master.  Such  an  argument  was  brief  and  cool ; 
but  the  democrats  of  the  present  day  think  it  proved  too 
much.  It  was,  however,  the  basis  of  the  attempts  of 
Gregory  VII.  and  his  successors,  who  aimed  to  form  the 
world  into  one  grand  Christian  empire,  in  which  the 
church,  by  virtue  of  its  divine  commission,  was  to  hold 
all  authority,  political  and  ecclesiastical. 

Another  form  of  European  political  civilization  was 
in  the  free  cities  of  the  north,  and  commercial  republics 
of  the  south ;  where  the  wealthy  men  of  a  town  asso 
ciated  together,  and,  through  the  medium  of  municipal 
corporations,  or  in  more  modern  language,  town  councils, 
exercised  authority.  Such  organizations  were,  in  the 
south  of  Europe,  named  republics,  and  in  the  north,  free 
cities ;  but  all  their  power  originated  in  an  aristocracy, 
and  was  exercised  independently  of  the  popular  will. 
Here  there  was  a  legitimacy  resting  upon  wealth  and 
hereditary  descent. 


THE    REVOLUTION.  245 

Another  form  of  European  political  civilization  was 
exhibited  when  royalty  was  established.  By  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  and  commencement  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  nations  of  Europe  had  grown  up  and  become  pretty 
well  organized  ;  and  power  was  drawn  away  from  feudal 
castles,  from  the  clergy,  and  from  the  towns,  and  cen 
tred  round  the  thrones  of  kings.  Henry  VIII.  of  Eng 
land,  Francis  I.  of  France,  and  Charles  V.  in  Spain  and 
Germany,  succeeded  to  crowns  which  were  emblems  of 
real  power.  The  German  electors,  seven  in  number,  it 
is  true,  elected  their  emperor ;  but  what  part  had  the 
people  in  the  matter  ?  Royalty  appealed  to  heaven,  and 
sought,  in  a  commission  from  on  high,  authority  to  sway 
its  sceptre.  Here  there  was  a  legitimacy  resting  upon 
the  idea  of  a  divine  right  to  rule.  Henry  VIII. ,  Eliza 
beth,  and  the  Stuart  kings,  are  the  proper  English  repre 
sentatives  of  this  class  of  sovereigns ;  and  their  dearly 
beloved  brother,  Louis  XIV.,  lived,  warred,  and  died 
in  the  idea  that  heaven  had  commissioned  him  to  govern 
France. 

But  democracy  began  to  array  itself  against  its 
natural  enemy,  legitimacy.  The  popular  masses — the 
undercrust — the  untitled — began  to  move.  Commerce 
and  the  arts  had  enriched  thousands  ;  and,  from  different 
corners  of  Europe,  the  doctrine  was  announced  that  the 
popular  will  was  the  fountain  of  political  power.  In 
England,  with  which  we  have  more  particularly  to  do, 
this  doctrine  exhibited  its  fruits  in  the  commotion  which 
overturned  the  power  and  cut  off  the  head  of  the  first 
Charles.  The  subsequent  revolution  of  1688,  which 
dethroned  James  II.,  was  another  result  of  the  same 
doctrine,  and  of  essential  service  to  the  prosperity  of 
England.  But  the  condition  of  society,  and  the  exist 
ence  of  aristocratic  and  royal  institutions,  preserved 


246  ORIGIN    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

legitimacy  both  in  Britain  and  on  the  continent;  and 
mothers  still  gave  birth  to  princes. 

It  was  reserved  for  our  own  Revolution  to  give  a  full 
and  perfect  developement  of  a  political  system  resting 
upon  the  popular  will.  Removed  from  the  presence  of 
royalty,  and  nobility,  and  ecclesiastical  domination,  the 
inhabitants  of  these  colonies  were  able  to  establish  a 
system  of  national  and  state  government,  in  which  de 
mocracy  took  the  place  of  legitimacy,  and  in  which  the 
constitution  and  laws  are  the  imbodimentand  manifesta 
tion  of  the  will  of  the  people.  The  establishment  of 
such  a  political  system  was  the  peculiar  and  distinguish 
ing  work  of  our  Revolution.  Neither  kings,  nor  clergy, 
nor  nobles,  entered  as  distinct  elements  into  the  political 
system  which  this  Revolution  organized.  The  people, 
standing  on  the  broad  platform  of  political  equality,  made 
their  will  the  basis  of  the  government.  Their  political 
tabernacle  was  constructed  upon  this  foundation,  and 
made  according  to  the  pattern  shown  by  reason  and  ex 
perience.  The  ballot-box  was  substituted  for  legitimacy ; 
and  the  throne,  the  House  of  Lords,  the  established 
church,  and  the  orders  of  nobility,  wrere  replaced  by  a 
representative  democracy,  with  its  elective  officers,  its 
free  religion,  and  its  political  equality. 

"  What  constitutes  a  state  ? 
Not  high-raised  battlements,  or  laboured  mound, 

Thick  wall,  or  moated  gate  ; 
Not  cities  proud,  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned ; 

No:  men,  high-minded  men, 

Men  who  their  duties  know 

And  know  their  rights;  and  knowing  dare  maintain; 
These  constitute  a  state." 

This  doctrine  was  the  illuminating  centre  of  the  po 
litical  system  formed  by  the  Revolution. 


THE   REVOLUTION.  247 

In  the  previous  lectures  we  have  represented  this  Revo 
lution,  and  the  political  organization  which  it  established, 
as  the  end  to  which  the  leading  prominent  events  of  all 
American  colonial  history  pointed.  Viewed  in  reference 
to  this  result,  those  events,  in  their  general  tendency, 
appear  like  the  actions  of  different  agents,  all  working 
the  well  ordered  plan  of  a  superintending  Mind.  Cor 
porations  tried  to  put  themselves  at  the  head  of  American 
colonization,  and  failed ;  feudal  nobles  tried  to  do  the 
same,  and  failed  ;  kings  made  the  same  attempt,  and 
they  too  failed.  The  success  of  corporations,  or  nobles, 
or  kings,  would  have  established,  in  the  colonies,  a  le 
gitimacy — an  anti- democratic  power — which  not  even  a 
revolution  could  have  shaken  off.  But  these  different 
attempts  at  colonization,  so  far  from  succeeding  ac 
cording  to  the  design  of  those  wrho  engaged  in  them, 
all  became  agencies  promotive  of  the  one  common  end 
— namely,  the  establishment  of  a  government  upon  the 
foundation  of  political  equality.  The  people  of  the  co 
lonies  had  long  earnestly  desired  this  result ;  and  when 
all  preliminaries  were  adjusted,  the  Revolution  ac 
complished  what  a  century  of  colonial  events  had  pre 
pared. 

The  military  part  of  the  Revolution  was  not  sufficient 
to  make  a  democratic  nation.  The  greatest  danger  of 
popular  government  was  after  the  days  of  military  success 
— in  the  dark  and  gloomy  times  of  the  Confederation. 
The  bonds  of  union  were,  in  fact,  dissolved,  and  the 
states  were  each  the  sole  guardian  of  popular  liberty.  It 
\vas  feared  that,  like  the  seven  Saxon  kingdoms  of  Eng 
land,  or  the  dissociated  chiefs  of  Europe,  in  the  early 
days  of  feudal  misrule,  the  thirteen  states  would  become 
thirteen  separate  republics,  wrhose  principal  occupation 
would  consist  in  harassing  each  other.  It  was  at  this 


248  ORIGIN    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

time  that  even  stern  upright  patriots  trembled  for  the 
cause  of  free-government.  For  the  states  were  quarrel 
ling  with  each  other,  commerce  was  prostrate,  the  paper 
money  had  ceased  to  circulate,  the  wheels  of  government 
moved  heavily,  mob  violence  appeared,  and  Great  Bri 
tain  was  laughing  at  her  spoiled,  unruly  children,  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  But  this  danger,  too,  passed  away. 
The  old  Confederation  yielded  up  the  ghost,  was  carried 
to  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  and  decently  interred.  The 
Constitution,  with  life  and  vigour,  came  into  being,  and 
the  work  of  the  Revolution  was  completed.  The  con 
stitution — not  the  mere  paper  agreement — but  the  actual 
political  organization  made  according  to  that  agreement 
— demonstrated  the  capacity  of  the  American  people  for 
popular  government.  The  excellence  of  this  constitution 
will  be  the  more  appreciated,  the  more  the  eye  rests  on 
the  dark  and  misty  times  when  it  came  into  being.  Long 
may  it  be  preserved.  And  while  the  flag  of  our  republic 
floats  in  the  breezes  that  come  from  the  Atlantic  and  Pa 
cific,  may  its  stars  and  stripes  long  be  hailed  by  joyous 
millions,  whose  acclamations  shall  re-echo  from  the 
shores  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  whose  jubilations  shall 
be  borne  on  the  mild  and  genial  airs  that  breathe  land 
ward  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


LECTURE  VIII. 
FEDERALISTS  AND  DEMOCRATS. 

Political  parties  arise  from  liberty — Origin  of  the  Federalists  and 
Anti-federalists — Views  of  parties  in  the  convention  to  frame  the 
Constitution  —  State  sovereignty  and  national  sovereignty — The 
Federalists  and  Democrats  —  Their  primary  dividing  line  —  They 
divided  upon  the  strength  or  weakness  of  the  national  government 
— Their  main  ideas — Their  names — Measures  on  which  they  dif 
fered  :  I.  They  differed  in  regard  to  the  public  debt — Origin  of  that 
debt — Views  of  parties  in  reference  to  it — Results  respecting  it; 
II.  They  differed  in  regard  to  a  national  bank  —  Grounds  of  their 
opposition  to  that  measure — Reasons  urged  for  it  by  the  Federalists 
— Jefferson  and  Hamilton  became  the  leaders  —  Their  respective 
views  and  characters ;  III.  The  parties  differed  in  regard  to  our  re 
lations  with  France  and  Great  Britain — Claim  of  France  upon  the 
United  States  for  aid  in  the  wars  of  the  French  Revolution — Pro 
clamation  of  neutrality — Effect  upon  the  parties  —  Relations  with 
Great  Britain — Provisions — Right  of  Search — Jay's  Treaty — Their 
effect  upon  the  parties — French  war  threatened  —  Position  of  the 
parties — War  with  Great  Britain — Views  of  the  parties  respecting 
it — These  questions  only  incidentally  connected  with  the  parties ; 
IV.  They  differed  in  regard  to  the  army  and  navy — The  Democrats 
oppose  the  organization  of  an  army — They  oppose  the  navy — Rea 
sons  of  their  opposition — These  measures  advocated  by  the  Fede 
ralists  ;  V.  They  differed  in  regard  to  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws 
— Object  of  those  laws — Opposed  by  the  Democrats — Change  of 
parties — Review  of  their  differences — The  two  classes  of  measures 
on  which  they  differed :  namely,  the  foreign  relations  and  the  do 
mestic  policy — The  measures  relating  to  domestic  policy  came  into 
direct  collision  with  one  or  other  of  the  main  ideas  of  the  two  parties 
— General  conclusions  respecting  the  two  parties:  (1)  They  ex 
changed  creeds  when  they  exchanged  positions;  (2)  They  were 


250  PROGRESS   OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

pretty  equally  divided  in  regard  to  men  and  influence ;  (3)  They  in 
general  acted  from  patriotic  motives;  (4)  They  were  not  responsible 
for  the  abuse  of  their  political  creeds  by  others;  (5)  These  party 
discussions  serve  certain  good  purposes — These  parties  ceased  with 
the  close  of  the  war  of  1812. 

WHO  has  not  heard  of  Federalists  and  Anti-fede 
ralists,  of  Democrats,  of  Republicans,  and  of  the  nu 
merous  other  party  names  that  figure  in  the  history  of 
the  United  States  ?  If  we  fix  our  attention  upon  the 
country  when  the  constitution  was  under  discussion,  we 
find  Federalists  and  Anti-federalists.  If  we  look  a  few 
years  farther  on  in  our  history — to  the  administrations 
of  the  elder  Adams,  of  Jefferson,  and  of  Madison — we 
find  Federalists  and  Democrats ;  and  if  we  advance  a 
few  years  farther,  our  ears  are  saluted  with  the  familiar 
names  of  Whigs  and  Democrats.  We  design  to  draw 
your  attention  to  the  middle  class  of  this  enumeration, 
to  the  Federalists  and  Democrats — the  parties  which  ap 
peared  in  our  country  from  the  organization  of  the  go 
vernment  to  the  close  of  the  War  in  A.  D.  1815.  Our 
object  in  bringing  forward  this  subject  is  to  give  an  ex 
hibition  of  the  practical  operation  of  our  political  system. 
We  have  given  a  detail  of  the  means  and  influences 
which  co-operated  in  the  organization  of  our  govern 
ment,  and  we  have  also  mentioned  in  brief  terms  the 
peculiar  characteristics  of  our  constitution.  We  now 
wish  to  draw  your  attention  to  the  practical  operation  of 
this  constitution,  and  to  exhibit  its  actual  influence  upon 
the  people. 

To  accomplish  this  object  we  will  select  two  or  three 
of  the  most  prominent  developements  which  have  been 
exhibited  under  our  republican  system ;  and  as  one  of 
these  developements,  which  it  may  be  both  profitable 
and  interesting  to  study,  we  will,  in  the  present  lecture, 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  251 

examine  that  party  division  into  Federalists  and  Demo 
crats,  which  ran  along  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  our 
national  existence. 

The  bloodless  battles  of  those  parties  have  been 
fought,  their  burning  zeal  has  ceased  from  its  heat,  their 
scoldings  are  ended,  and  their  words  and  deeds  have 
become  matter  of  history.  If  an  old  brand  is  occa 
sionally  raked  up  from  the  long  subsided  fires  of  Fede 
ralism  and  Anti-federalism,  it  is  looked  upon  as  a  cu 
riosity,  and,  like  the  fossil  bones  of  an  extinct  race  of 
mastodons,  its  chief  use  is  to  make  known  that  giants 
lived  in  those  days.  We  may  therefore  examine  into 
the  conduct  of  those  parties,  and  the  grounds  of  their 
division,  as  we  would  examine  any  other  historic  facts. 

But  why  should  parties  divide  a  republic  ?  If  free 
dom  be  a  blessing  for  which  the  human  race  yearns — if 
popular  government  be  the  only  government  becoming 
the  dignity  of  our  nature,  why  should  party  spirit  divide 
the  people  ?  In  reply  to  such  inquiries  we  have  to  say 
that  political  parties  are  the  offspring  of  liberty,  and 
that  no  governments,  pure  despotisms  excepted,  are  free 
from  them.  They  exist  even  in  those  nations  where 
legitimacy  has  the  ascendancy  over  democracy,  and  are 
found  in  Britain  and  France,  at  the  present  day,  as  they 
were  found  in  the  aristocratic  republics  of  Holland, 
Switzerland,  and  Venice,  in  former  days.  In  pure  des 
potisms  they  disappear,  for  there  they  find  no  food  to 
preserve  themselves  alive.  Turkey  consequently  never 
had  Federalists  or  Democrats,  as  distinct  parties,  nor  has 
India  or  China.  But  wherever  a  single  spark  of  freedom 
has  manifested  its  presence,  there  political  parties  have 
been  formed.  The  human  intellect  is  so  constituted 
that  different  minds  view  the  same  projects,  and  the 
same  doctrines  differently ;  just  as  every  gazer  upon  the 


252  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

sunshine  and  cloud  sees  a  rainbow  different  from  that 
seen  by  his  neighbour,  though  the  same  sun  and  the 
same  shower  produce  the  gorgeous  fleeting  arch. 

If,  then,  political  parties  arise  from  liberty,  even 
where  it  is  pressed  down  to  the  ground,  and  where,  like 
the  lion  half  buried  in  the  earth,  it  paws  to  get  free, 
could  wise  men  expect  that  no  such  divisions  would  be 
found  in  our  republic  ?  If  such  expectations  were  ever 
formed  they  certainly  were  not  realized ;  for  parties  here 
appeared. 

The  partyism  of  Europe  has  in  general  been  a  contest 
between  legitimacy  and  democracy,  or,  if  you  please, 
between  the  supporters  of  divine  and  hereditary  right 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  advocates  of  popular  govern 
ment  on  the  other.  But  in  the  United  States,  the  Revo 
lution  chased  away  the  Tories —  democracy  triumphed — 
and  legitimacy  had  here  no  longer  a  representative. 
The  partyism  of  the  United  States,  in  its  first  manifesta 
tions,  had  consequently  not  much  in  common  with  that 
of  Europe.  It  wras  rather  of  native  growth,  and  had  its 
origin  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  country.  Its 
root  was  in  a  diversity  of  views — in  a  contrariety  of 
opinions  between  men  who  agreed  in  regarding  the  po 
pular  will  as  the  fountain  of  political  power,  but  who 
differed  about  the  method  of  expressing  or  exercising 
that  will.  Some  desired  to  exercise  it  principally  through 
the  state  governments,  and  others  through  a  national  go 
vernment. 

I  repeat  that  the  partyism  of  the  United  States  had 
its  origin  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  country, 
and  I  may  farther  add  that  the  most  prominent  of  these 
peculiar  circumstances  was  the  existence  of  the  several 
states  in  conjunction  with  the  national  government.  We 
,  may  name  this  a  peculiar  circumstance  of  our  country,  be- 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  253 

cause  in  England,  France,  and  Spain  there  was  nothing 
of  the  kind.  Those  nations  had  each  one  central  so 
vereignty,  but  no  provincial  governments  corresponding 
to  our  states. 

The  influence  of  our  national  and  state  organizations 
in  originating  the  old  political  parties  of  our  country 
has  always  been  a  matter  of  notoriety  in  the  United 
States.  So  prominent  indeed  has  been  this  influence 
that  we  may  truly  say  that  a  strong,  energetic,  national 
government  was  the  main,  leading  idea  of  the  old  fede 
ral  party ;  while  the  equally  leading  idea  of  the  old  de 
mocratic  party  was,  that  the  states  were  the  best  depo 
sitories  of  political  power.  In  other  words,  the  states 
and  the  Union  were  brought  into  contrast.  One  set  of 
men  were  willing  to  strengthen  the  national  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  state  governments,  and  another  set  of  men 
were  willing  to  strengthen  the  state  governments  at  the 
expense  of  the  national.  Here  was  abundant  material 
for  party  division.  Parties  accordingly  appeared,  whose 
discussions  were  continued  through  the  first  twenty-five 
years  of  our  constitutional  history.  The  grounds  of  their 
division  began  to  be  seen  even  during  the  Revolution, 
but  it  first  fully  manifested  itself  in  the  convention  which 
framed  the  constitution.  After  that  form  of  government 
was  adopted,  and  the  Union  established,  the  same  sub 
ject  of  discussion  reappeared  in  another  form,  and  pro 
duced  as  its  legitimate  fruits  the  Federalists  and  the 
Democrats. 

If  we  look  at  the  convention  which  framed  the  con 
stitution,  we  find  a  variety  of  projects  for  organizing  a 
national  government.  These  projects  are,  however, 
readily  distributed  into  two  classes,  one  of  which  was 
based  on  the  desire  of  an  energetic  national  government, 
cost  what  it  might,  while  the  other  was  based  on  the  cle- 

Y 


254       PROGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

sire  to  maintain  the  sovereignty  and  independence  of 
the  states.  The  constantly- recurring  and  all-absorbing 
question  was :  Shall  the  new  government  be  national  or 
federal  ?  By  a  national  government  in  this  connexion  was 
understood  one  emanating  from  the  people  in  contradis 
tinction  to  a  mere  league  of  the  states  ;  while  a  federal  go 
vernment  was,  on  the  other  hand,  a  federation  or  league 
of  the  states  as  states.  These  antipodal  systems  gave  rise 
to  long  and  earnest  discussions  in  the  convention.  The 
Federalists ,  or  those  who  advocated  the  system  of  a  fe 
deration  or  league,  apprehended  great  danger  from  a 
strong  national  organization ;  they  accordingly  resolved 
to  preserve  the  sovereignty  of  the  states  at  all  hazards ; 
and  to  secure  this  result,  they  proposed  to  give  them  the 
execution  of  the  laws  of  the  Union — to  allow  them  an 
equal  representation  in  Congress,  and  to  make  them  in 
general  the  controlling  powers  in  the  new  organization. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Nationalists ,  or  Anti-Federalists, 
desired  not  a  league,  but  an  energetic  national  govern 
ment — one  that  could  perpetuate  itself — one  that  con 
tained  within  its  own  frame  the  elements  of  efficient  ac 
tion.  To  secure  such  an  organization,  they  proposed 
to  abolish  the  state  governments — to  elect  the  president 
and  senators  for  life — to  give  the  president  a  veto  upon 
the  legislative  acts  of  each  state — and  in  general  to 
clothe  the  new  government  with  supreme  authority  over 
all  other  authorities  in  the  country. 

The  views  of  the  Nationalists  prevailed  at  first ;  reso 
lutions  imbodying  their  theory  were  adopted,  and  the 
primary  elements  of  the  Constitution  as  they  passed  in 
the  Convention  exhibited  the  word  national  and  the  idea 
national  in  almost  every  line.  There  was  the  national 
Legislature,  the  national  Judiciary,  the  national  Exe 
cutive,  and  other  forms  of  a  national  vocabulary,  all  ex- 


FEDERALISTS   AND    DEMOCRATS.  255 

hibiting  the  same  idea.  But  great  and  serious  opposi 
tion  was  made  to  this  system,  especially  by  the  smaller 
states,  and  it  \vas  confidently  affirmed  that  such  a  plan 
would  never  be  adopted  by  the  people.  Recourse  was 
then  had  to  the  method  of  compromise — the  term  na 
tional  was  carefully  erased  from  every  part  of  the  Consti 
tution — pieces  of  both  systems  were  fused  together — in 
corporated  into  one — and  there  was  to  a  certain  extent 
an  amalgamation  of  the  theories.  As  an  example  of  the 
results  of  this  amalgamating  process,  the  states  were  as 
signed  a  federal  or  equal  representation  in  the  Senate, 
and  a  popular  representation  in  the  House — the  presi 
dent  was  to  be  chosen  by  a  popular  vote,  but  the  states 
were  to  be  electoral  districts,  &c. 

In  this  manner  the  Constitution  was  framed  and  sub 
mitted  to  the  people.  Neither  party  was  indeed  very 
well  satisfied  with  it,  for  it  was  too  consolidating,  too 
centralizing  for  the  one,  and  too  weak,  too  attentive  to 
state  rights  for  the  other.  The  Nationalists,  however,  be 
came  its  defenders.  They  availed  themselves  of  the  po 
pularity  of  the  name  Federalists,  and  by  one  of  those 
freaks  that  sometimes  occur,  no  one  knows  precisely  how, 
they  succeeded  in  appropriating  it  to  themselves,  while 
they  affixed  upon  the  other  party  the  name  of  Anti-fede 
ralists.  The  defenders  of  state  rights  federation  com 
plained  of  being  robbed  of  their  good  name,  and  declared 
that  titles  were  now  quite  the  reverse  of  what  they  had 
been  in  the  convention.  But  there  was  no  redress.  The 
defenders  of  the  Constitution  did  not  however  rely  merely 
upon  names,  they  laboured  diligently  to  secure  its  adop 
tion.  Hamilton,  Madison  and  Jay  were  its  devoted  ad 
vocates,  and  from  their  pens  proceeded  most  luminous 
examinations  of  its  provisions.  On  the  other  side,  Pat 
rick  Henry  raised  his  voice  against  it ;  Luther  Martin 
with  all  his  legal  abilities  opposed  it ;  and  Hancock  and 


256        PROGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Samuel  Adams,  patriots  without  fear  and  without  re 
proach,  showed  it  no  favour.  In  the  eyes  of  its  oppo 
nents  it  approximated  too  closely  to  the  British  form  of 
government — the  president  \vas  a  king  in  disguise — and 
the  whole  system,  like  the  image  seen  in  vision  by  the 
ancient  monarch,  appeared  a  huge  metallic  thing,  with  a 
head  of  gold,  a  body  of  silver,  and  feet  of  iron,  whose 
power  and  hugeness  would  frighten  young  liberty. 

But  the  opposition  was  unavailing.  The  constitution, 
after  running  the  gauntlet  of  each  state,  and  making 
many  hair-breadth  escapes,  was  adopted,  and  the  parties 
which  originated  in  its  discussion  ceased  to  exist. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  another  division  of 
parties  began  to  manifest  itself;  and  state  rights  in  op 
position  to  national  rights  again  formed  the  basis  of  the 
division.  Many  of  those  who  had  opposed  the  adoption 
of  the  constitution,  because  they  feared  its  monarchical 
tendencies,  kept  themselves  on  the  watch  to  see  the  first 
exhibitions  of  tyranny.  Others,  who  had  earnestly  ad 
vocated  its  adoption,  united  with  them ;  and  a  new  party 
appeared,  whose  creed  may  be  summarily  stated  as  fol 
lows  :  The  constitution  should  be  construed  strictly,  and 
the  national  government  should  exercise  no  authority 
except  what  is  expressly  given  to  it — all  other  authority 
belongs  to  the  states.  The  men  who  advocated  this 
creed  became  known  as  the  Democratic  party.  In  op 
position  to  them  were  others,  whose  political  creed  was 
the  reverse  of  that  just  stated.  A  party  appeared,  who 
maintained  that  the  constitution  should  be  so  construed 
as  to  render  the  national  government  adequate  to  the 
wants  of  the  Union.  The  men  who  advocated  this  creed 
became  known  as  the  Federal  party.  Those  who  had 
opposed  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  were  in  general 
inclined  to  give  it  that  construction  which  left  most  power 
with  the  state  governments,  and  consequently  arrayed 


FEDERALISTS   AND   DfiM&eftATS.  25 

themselves  with  the  Democrats.  On  the  other  hand, 
those  who  had  advocated  the  constitution  before  its 
adoption,  were  in  general  inclined  to  give  it  that  con 
struction  which  would  strengthen  the  national  govern 
ment  even  at  the  expense  of  state  authority.  These 
naturally  arrayed  themselves  with  the  Federalists. 

To  these  general  statements  there  were,  however, 
many  individual  exceptions;  and  the  Federalists  and 
Democrats,  under  the  constitution,  are  not  to  be  identi 
fied  with  the  parties  which,  at  an  earlier  day,  advocated 
or  opposed  the  adoption  of  that  instrument  of  govern 
ment.  All  that  \ve  desire  to  assert  is,  that  the  twTo  main 
ideas  which  divided  the  country  into  two  parties  before 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  reappeared  in  a  modified 
form  under  the  constitution,  and  became  the  basis  of  the 
division  into  Federalists  and  Democrats.  It  wras  natural 
that  those  who  had  advocated  the  adoption  of  the  con 
stitution,  should  desire  to  give  it  such  a  construction, 
and  pursue  such  a  system  of  measures  as  would  give  to 
the  national  government  full  power  to  take  care  of  the 
general  interests  of  the  Union.  This  in  fact  occurred, 
but  it  occurred  with  many  exceptions.  For  example : 
Mr.  Madison,  who  had  been  the  Ajax  and  Nestor  in  be 
half  of  the  constitution,  and  whose  luminous  pen  poured 
floods  of  light  upon  it,  ranged  himself  with  the  Demo 
crats,  and  contended  earnestly  for  that  construction  and 
for  that  system  of  measures  which  would  leave  the  greatest 
possible  amount  of  power  with  the  states.  Notwith 
standing  such  examples,  the  Federalists  endeavoured  to 
fix  upon  the  other  party  the  odium  of  being  unfriendly  to 
the  constitution ;  and  for  this  purpose  applied  to  them 
the  names  of  Anti-federalists  and  Democrats.  The  De 
mocrats  retorted  by  endeavouring  to  fix  upon  their  op 
ponents  the  odium  of  opposition  to  the  state  governments ; 


258  PROGRESS   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

and  for  this  purpose  applied  to  them  the  names  of  Aris 
tocrats,  Monarchists,  and  similar  epithets. 

It  is  a  matter  of  interest  to  trace  the  fortunes  not 
only  of  nations,  and  parties,  and  individuals,  but  some 
times  even  of  names.  Thus,  the  name  Federalist  is 
now,  in  popular  language,  a  term  of  reproach.  What 
was  it  originally  ?  A  term  of  honour.  In  the  Conven 
tion  it  designated  an  advocate  of  state  rights — one  who 
preferred  a  confederation  or  league  of  the  states  in  op 
position  to  one  who  desired  a  consolidated  national  go 
vernment.  In  the  discussions  connected  with  the  adop 
tion  of  the  constitution  it  was  appropriated,  out  of  its 
primary  signification,  by  those  who  espouse  the  cause  of 
that  instrument.  After  the  organization  of  the  govern 
ment  it  was  claimed  by  all  parties.  "  WE  ARE  ALL  FE 
DERALISTS,  WE  ARE  ALL  REPUBLICANS,"  said  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  in  his  inaugural  address.  But  this  name  of  honour 
has  "  fallen  from  its  high  estate,"  while  its  more  humble 
rival  has  been  exalted.  The  term  Democrat,  which  in  our 
country  is  now  claimed  by  all  parties,  was,  on  the  other 
hand,  used  in  the  days  following  the  Revolution,  as  a  term 
of  reproach.  Shay's  rebellion  and  other  incidents  had 
brought  the  very  name  Democrat  into  disgrace,  and  the 
Federalists  applied  it  in  derision  to  their  opponents.  The 
circumstances  of  the  times  connected  it  with  the  idea  of 
a  levelling  principle,  which  aimed  at  the  destruction  of 
all  government.  It  received  much  hard  usage,  and  had 
no  friends,  those  to  whom  it  applied  disowned  it — re 
pudiated  it — and  preferred  the  name  Republicans  or 
Federal- Republicans  for  themselves,  while  they  very  con 
siderately  designated  their  opponents  by  the  term  Aris 
tocrats.  But  shadows,  realities,  and  politicians,  alike  vary 
their  positions  ;  and  a  similar  fact  occurred  to  the  party- 
names  which  we  have  now  mentioned — they  exchanged 


FEDERALISTS    AND   DEMOCRATS.  259 

reputations :  the  one  has  fallen  into  disgrace,  and  the  other 
has  been  exalted  to  honour.  But  though  these  names  have 
been  alternately  in  good  and  in  bad  repute,  they  have  by 
common  consent  been  applied  to  designate  the  parties 
which  existed  in  our  republic  from  the  organization  of 
the  government  to  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812. 

We  have  stated  the  radical  idea  of  these  two  parties. 
The  Federalists  directed  their  attention  to  the  strength 
and  energy  of  the  Union,  and  the  Democrats  to  the  strength 
and  energy  of  the  states.  Here  again  our  general  asser 
tions  are  to  be  modified  by  many  apparent  exceptions. 
For  many  other  questions  came  to  be  mixed  up  with 
these  two  main  ideas,  and  formed  matters  of  party  con 
test.  The  revolution  in  France  was  the  most  prolific 
of  these  secondary  questions ;  and  as  that  movement 
agitated  the  whole  European  race,  it  produced  many 
subjects  of  earnest  discussion  between  the  parties  in  our 
own  country.  But  instead  of  forming  new  parties  on  the 
several  subjects  of  public  interest  as  they  arose,  those 
subjects  were  referred  to  the  parties  already  existing; 
and  what  the  one  approved,  the  other  condemned. 
Accidental  circumstances  also  determined  many  in  their 
choice  of  parties  ;  prejudices  of  which  no  account  can 
be  given,  operated  to  make  one  man  a  Federalist,  and 
another  a  Democrat.  The  influences  of  interest,  of  lo 
cality,  of  connexions,  of  employment,  of  personal  pre 
ferences,  all  had  their  share  in  increasing  the  number  of 
the  one  party,  and  in  diminishing  that  of  the  other.  But 
though  many  could  trace  their  peculiar  politics  to  no 
higher  origin  than  these  secondary  considerations,  yet, 
with  the  party  leaders,  and  with  all  those  who  had  com 
prehensive  views  of  our  system  of  government,  one  or 
the  other  of  the  main  ideas  just  stated  prevailed.  In 
this  point  of  view,  therefore,  the  parties  were  of  do- 


260  PROGRESS    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

mestic  origin  ;  but  they  soon  extended  their  disputes  to 
our  foreign  policy ;  and  our  relations  with  France  and 
England  became  the  golden  themes  of  party  discussion. 

That  you  may  have  a  correct  view  of  the  controver 
sies  of  these  two  old  parties,  let  us  take  a  rapid 
survey  of  the  measures  upon  which  they  differed.  In 
such  a  survey,  general  and  imperfect  as  it  may  be,  you 
will  not  fail  to  perceive  that  they  first  separated  upon 
the  radical  idea  of  a  strong  or  weak  national  govern 
ment  ;  but  that  after  this  separation,  their  controversies 
extended  so  as  to  include  almost  every  measure  of  do 
mestic  and  foreign  policy. 

I.  The  first  system  of  measures  upon  which  the  par 
ties  differed,  was  in  regard  to  the  public  debt.  When 
the  Constitution  was  adopted  the  states  were  in  debt. 
These  debts  bad  been,  for  the  most  part,  contracted  du 
ring  the  Revolution,  and  in  behalf  of  the  common  cause 
of  independence.  Sometimes  the  local  legislatures  had 
raised  troops  and  paid  them  ;  and  many  operations  for 
the  general  benefit  had  been  performed  by  the  several 
states,  all  involving  more  or  less  expense.  The  debts 
contracted  in  this  manner  were  called  state  debts,  and 
the  several  states  \vere  bound  for  their  payment. 

Congress,  during  the  Revolution,  had  also  contracted 
debts  upon  the  faith  of  the  Union.  They  had  borrowed 
money  from  France,  from  Spain,  and  from  Holland,  and 
there  was  thus  a  foreign  national  debt.  They  had  also 
borrowed  money,  made  purchases  from  our  own  citizens, 
and  hired  soldiers,  and  there  was  thus  a  domestic  national 
debt.  These  three  species  of  debts,  namely,  the  state 
debts,  the  foreign  national  debt,  and  the  domestic  na 
tional  debt,  still  existed  at  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu 
tion.  They  had,  however,  all  depreciated,  on  account 
of  the  embarrassed  and  unsettled  condition  of  the  country 


FEDERALISTS  AND  DEMOCRATS.         261 

under  the  Confederation.  At  the  second  congressional 
session  under  the  Constitution,  in  1790,  several  very 
animated  discussions  arose  respecting  these  debts.  It 
was  unanimously  agreed  that  the  foreign  national  debt 
should  be  paid  by  the  general  government  without 
abatement.  There  was  no  desire  to  repudiate.  But, 
when  Congress  came  to  discuss  the  subject  of  the  do 
mestic  national  debt,  a  difference  of  opinion  appeared. 
The  certificates  of  that  debt  had,  in  most  cases,  passed 
from  the  hands  of  the  original  holders,  and  had  been 
purchased  by  others  at  a  great  depreciation.  Some  pro 
posed  to  pay  the  holders  of  the  certificates  of  this  debt 
only  the  amount  they  had  paid  for  them ;  and  others 
proposed  to  pay  them  the  full  amount.  On  this  subject 
a  long  and  earnest  discussion  ensued,  which  ended  in  a 
decision  to  pay  the  full  amount  of  the  domestic  national 
debt. 

It  was  next  proposed  that  the  general  government 
should  assume  the  state  debts.  This  proposition  gave 
rise  to  another  animated  discussion,  which  ended  in  a 
decision  to  assume  twenty-one  millions  and  a  half  of 
those  debts.  The  old  continental  money  also  received 
a  share  of  attention,  and  it  was  decided  to  redeem  that 
old  fashioned  currency  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar  for  a 
hundred.  A  funding  system  was  adopted  which  pro 
vided  for  the  payment  of  these  debts. 

I  notice  these  matters  in  this  particular  manner,  be 
cause  they  furnished  the  occasion  for  the  division  of  the 
country  into  the  two  political  parties.  Those  who  op 
posed  the  assumption  of  the  state  debts,  and  the  full 
payment  of  the  domestic  national  debt,  became  the  De 
mocrats.  Those  who  supported  these  measures  became 
the  Federalists. 

The  opposition  of  the  Democrats  in  this  matter  was 


262       PROGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

grounded  on  the  main  idea,  that  such  an  amount  of  na-' 
tional  debt  would  accumulate  too  much  power  in  the 
general  government.  They  argued  that  if  a  vast  national 
debt  were  thus  created,  the  creditors  of  the  government 
would  be  interested  to  support  it  in  all  its  measures,  and 
that  liberty  would  thus  be  endangered.  The  existence 
of  the  states  would  also  be  perilled.  For  Congress, 
being  clothed  with  authority  to  lay  taxes,  would  interfere 
with  the  action  of  the  state  governments,  and  finally 
break  them  down,  and  destroy  the  foundations  of  our 
republican  system.  Besides,  the  authority  to  assume 
the  debts  of  the  states,  and  to  create  a  great  national 
debt,  was  not  granted  by  the  constitution,  and  it  was  a 
leading  doctrine  of  the  democratic  creed  that  the  general 
government  should  exercise  no  authority  not  specifically 
conferred  upon  it. 

Some  of  these  objections  are  set  forth  with  conside 
rable  point  in  an  article  published  in  the  American  Mu 
seum  of  1798,  which  I  here  quote  for  more  than  one 
purpose.  The  writer,  rejoicing  in  the  name  of  Don 
Quixote,  runs  the  following  tilt. 

"Mr.  Hamilton  is  the  father  of  the  funding  system. 
He  must  have  foreseen  that  those  men  whose  fortunes 
were  made  by  the  measure,  would  consider  their  very 
existence  as  interwoven  with  his  system,  and  they  must 
stand  or  fall  together.  He  must  have  known  that,  by 
this  measure,  he  would  enlist  under  the  banners  of  the 
administration  some  thousands  of  rich  men,  made  rich 
by  the  government,  and,  for  that  reason,  prepared  to  go 
all  lengths  in  support  of  its  measures.  This  was  pre 
dicted  ;  and  the  fact  verifies  the  prediction  ;  for  a  de 
mocrat,  that  is  a  republican  paper  speculator,  is  a  being 
no  where  to  be  found.  *  *  *  Why,  let  me  ask,  are 
the  inhabitants  of  the  states,  south  of  Pennsylvania,  in 


FEDERALISTS   AND   DEMOCRATS.  263 

their  principles  democratic,  and  those  to  the  northward 
aristocratic  ?  The  fact  will  not  be  questioned  ;  and  I 
believe  but  one  satisfactory  answer  can  be  given,  which 
is  this — that  owing  to  the  superior  industry  and  economy 
of  the  northern  people,  combined  with  some  other  causes, 
most  of  the  public  debt  was,  at  the  time  of  funding  it,  in 
their  hands.  This  difference  of  opinion  in  the  northern 
and  southern  states,  is  an  irresistible  proof  of  the  deep 
policy  of  the  measures  that  have  produced  it.  That 
Mr.  Hamilton  and  the  rest  of  the  aristocracy  foresaw  the 
ill  consequences  of  their  measures,  cannot  be  doubted," 
&c.  &c. — American  Museum,  Vol.  13,  p.  119. 

When  the  measures  relating  to  the  public  debt  were 
before  Congress,  "  Mr.  Hamilton  and  the  rest  of  the 
aristocracy"  advocated  them  by  arguments  based  upon 
the  main  idea  of  the  federal  party.  Guided  by  the 
one  consideration,  that  the  general  government  should 
have  power  to  render  ample  justice  to  all  persons  inte 
rested,  they  contended  for  the  assumption  of  the  state 
debts,  and  for  the  full  payment  of  the  domestic  national 
debt.  These  debts  had  all  been  contracted  in  support 
of  the  Revolution ;  the  states  had  borrowed  money  for 
that  cause ;  the  Continental  Congress  had  paid  officers 
and  soldiers  with  certificates,  which  constituted  part  of 
the  domestic  debt ;  and  justice  and  honour  alike  required 
the  nation  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  Revolution.  The 
Federalists  also  denied  that  a  national  debt  would  en 
danger  the  liberty  of  the  states,  or  lessen  their  import 
ance.  These  view^s  prevailed ;  and  the  proposed  mea 
sures  were  adopted.  As  a  consequence,  the  public  funds 
suddenly  rose  from  fifteen  cents  to  a  dollar,  and  great 
fortunes  were  realized. 

In  the  discussion  of  these  measures,  the  contest  was  a 
contest  upon  the  radical  principles  of  our  government. 


264  PROGRESS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

While  the  Federalists  contended  for  an  efficient  national 
government,  the  Democrats  contended  for  that  system 
of  measures  which  would  draw  influence  and  power 
away  from  the  national,  and  accumulate  them  in  the 
state  governments.  That  the  creation  of  a  great  national 
debt  would  give  the  general  government  an  improper 
preponderance,  was  a  fact  most  positively  asserted  by  the 
one  party,  and  most  positively  denied  by  the  other. 
Each  party  saw  its  own  rainbow.  Each  had  its  theory 
of  republicanism,  and  desired  to  carry  that  theory  into 
practice. 

II.  The  second  measure  on  which  the  parties  vitally 
disagreed,  was  the  establishment  of  a  National  Bank. 
This  subject  was  brought  before  Congress  in  1791,  and 
completed  the  division  of  the  parties.  The  Federalists 
advocated  it  on  the  one  general  idea  just  stated.  In 
their  opinion,  the  general  government  was  intended  to 
be  adequate  to  the  wants  of  the  Union.  A  National 
Bank  would  afford  it  facilities  to  supply  these  wants, 
and  enable  it  more  readily  to  transact  its  business,  col 
lect  and  disburse  its  revenues,  pay  the  public  creditors, 
and  promote  the  general  welfare.  This  was  the  view 
of  the  measure  which  was  taken  by  the  Federalists. 
On  what  ground  was  it  opposed  ?  The  Democrats  op 
posed  it  on  the  one  general  idea  of  their  party.  A  Na 
tional  Bank,  they  said,  would  concentrate  too  much 
power  in  the  general  government.  It  would  render  that 
government  too  energetic  for  the  states,  and  destroy  the 
balance  of  our  republican  system.  But  the  great  force 
of  their  opposition  was  directed  against  the  measure  on 
the  ground  of  its  unconstitutionally.  They  had  pre 
scribed  for  themselves  the  rule,  that  the  constitution 
should  be  strictly  construed,  and  no  more  power  exer 
cised  by  the  general  government  than  was  expressly 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  265 

given  or  necessarily  implied  in  the  constitution.  Judging 
the  project  of  a  National  Bank  by  this  rule,  they  con 
demned  it.  They  alleged  that  no  such  authority  was 
given  to  Congress — that  such  an  institution  was  not  ne 
cessary — and  that  all  the  affairs  of  government  could 
be  transacted  without  it.  The  Federalists  asserted  that 
the  measure  was  constitutional — beneficial  to  the  coun 
try,  and  one  of  the  means  usually  employed  in  transact 
ing  the  business  of  government.  The  views  of  the  Fede 
ralists  prevailed,  and  the  bank  was  established.  The  con 
stitutionality  of  this  measure  has  of  late  years  been  elabo 
rately  discussed  in  our  country ;  and  rhetoric,  argument, 
sarcasm,  and  learning,  have  been  exhausted  in  its  exami 
nation.  We  notice  it  here  merely  because  it  was  one 
among  the  first  measures  of  our  government  on  which 
the  Federalists  were  arrayed  against  the  Democrats.  It 
completed  that  party  separation  which  commenced  with 
the  discussions  relative  to  the  public  debt. 

It  was  on  the  question  of  the  National  Bank  that 
Hamilton  appeared  as  the  leader  of  the  Federalists,  and 
Jefferson  of  the  Democrats.  These  two  men  have  been 
generally  regarded  as  the  imbodiment  of  the  two  great 
ideas  of  republican  government  in  our  own  country. 
They  had  entered  in  early  life  with  heart  and  soul  into 
the  great  struggle  for  American  Independence,  and  their 
patriotism  had  been  well  tried  in  that  fiery  ordeal.  But 
there  wrere  certain  characters  and  habits  of  mind  and 
education  which  caused  them  to  adopt  very  different 
opinions  in  regard  to  our  republican  system.  As  their 
views  became  substantially  the  views  of  the  two  great 
parties  of  which  they  were  the  leaders,  it  may  be  inte 
resting  to  look  at  the  influences  which  brought  them  to 
embrace  such  opposite  political  creeds. 

Hamilton,  a  Scotchman  by  descent,  a  native  of  the 


266  PROGRESS   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

"West  Indies  by  birth,  had  sought  a  home  in  America, 
and  became  the  friend  of  liberty.  An  intellect  of  the 
first  order,  he  advocated  the  adoption  of  the  constitution. 
Tried  in  the  military  fires  of  the  Revolution,  he  proved 
himself  worthy  of  his  adopted  country.  Looking  at 
human  nature  in  camps  and  armies,  he  formed  no  very 
exalted  conception  of  its  dignity,  and  had  indeed  but 
little  faith  in  mankind.  A  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  he  was  intimately  acquainted  with  the  embar 
rassments  of  the  debilitated  confederation.  He  had 
been  conversant  with  the  disgrace  and  difficulty  of  a 
weak  central  government,  and  naturally  desired  a  con 
stitution  that  would  lift  the  nation  out  of  its  degradation. 
Endowed  with  a  comprehensive  mind,  and  capable  of 
viewing  systems  in  their  utmost  generality  as  well  as  in 
their  practical  details,  he  possessed  a  remarkable  facility 
in  originating  forms  of  government  and  plans  of  policy. 
This  familiarity  with  our  national  difficulties,  as  well  as 
his  superior  intellect  and  whole  character  of  mind,  fitted 
him  for  action  on  an  extended  scale,  and  he  became  a 
leading  man  in  the  Federal  party.  He  was  in  fact  for  a 
time  its  head.  His  position  and  influence  among  his 
political  friends  are  pretty  well  hit  off  by  the  Democratic 
Don  Quixote  quoted  above,  who  speaks  divers  hard 
things  against  "  Mr.  Hamilton  and  the  rest  of  the  aris 
tocracy."  He  was  perhaps  somewhat  ultra  in  his  attach 
ment  to  the  national  government,  and  regarded  the  en 
croachments  of  the  states  as  the  real  source  of  danger 
to  our  republican  system.  He  was  indeed  a  Federalist 
of  the  Federalists ;  but  his  measures  were,. in  the  main, 
the  measures  adopted  by  his  party.  Being  secretary  of 
the  treasury  under  Washington,  he  originated  the  plan 
of  assuming  the  state  debts,  and  of  paying  the  domestic 
national  debt.  The  plan  of  the  National  Bank  was  his. 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  267 

The  plans  of  laying  taxes  and  raising  revenue  were  his. 
Being  thus  the  author  of  those  measures  on  which  the 
parties  divided,  he  may  be  fairly  regarded  as  the  type 
or  representative  of  the  Federalists. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Jefferson  was,  by  common 
consent,  the  head  leader  and  type  of  the  Democratic 
party.  He  was  a  man  of  an  ardent  temperament,  and 
early  in  life  had  plunged  into  the  turmoil  of  politics. 
The  writer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  his  pa 
triotism  was  unquestionable.  An  ambassador  to  France 
after  the  close  of  our  Revolution,  he  saw  the  grinding 
tyranny  of  a  great  monarchy.  He  saw  legitimacy  in  the 
midst  of  its  evils,  of  its  sufferings,  and  of  its  weakness. 
Devoted  to  the  cause  of  democracy,  he  was  apprehen 
sive  that  it  might  be  exposed  to  dangers  from  a  strong 
government.  Being  in  France  at  the  breaking  out  of 
the  great  French  Revolution,  he  became  warmly  en 
listed  in  the  cause  of  French  republicanism.  Little  con 
versant  with  the  embarrassments  of  the  doddered  con 
federation,  he  looked  upon  state  sovereignty  wdth  more 
complacency  than  upon  an  energetic  national  government. 
He  was  indeed  a  devout  worshipper  at  the  shrine  of 
liberty,  but  thought  that  her  altars  and  her  temples  should 
be  dispersed  over  the  states,  and  not  all  built  at  the  seat 
of  national  power.  Absent  from  his  country  when  the 
constitution  was  adopted,  he  had  not  participated  in  the 
discussions  which  preceded  its  adoption.  A  member  of 
Washington's  cabinet,  he  viewed  with  a  jealous  eye  the 
earliest  attempt  to  extend  the  powers  of  the  general  go 
vernment.  With  these  views,  and  with  an  intellect 
keen,  penetrating,  and  comprehensive,  he  adopted  the 
democratic  idea  of  the  constitution.  He  did  not,  indeed, 
originate  that  idea,  but  he  became  its  imbodiment,  its 
type,  and  representative.  He  arrayed  himself  in  oppo- 


268  PROGRESS   OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

sition  to  the  doctrine  and  measures  of  the  Federalists, 
and  contended  for  that  construction  of  the  constitution 
which  would  leave  the  least  power  in  the  general  go 
vernment.  He  abhorred  legitimacy,  and  feared  lest  it 
should  obtrude  its  "  miscreated  front"  into  our  repub 
lican  temple.  From  all  these  causes,  he  became  the 
active  opponent  of  the  National  Bank,  and  in  general 
of  all  those  measures  which  flowed  from  the  leading  idea 
of  the  Federalists. 

Such  were  the  characters  of  mind,  habits  of  political 
thought,  energy  and  intellect,  of  the  two  men  whom  we 
may  regard  as  the  leaders  and  representatives  of  the  two 
parties. 

We  may  regard  them,  I  say,  as  the  representatives 
of  the  two  parties.  For  though  they  were  each  tolerably 
ultra  in  their  political  creeds,  the  parties  were  of  the 
same  strong  faith.  The  Democrats  denounced  the  mea 
sures  of  the  Federalists ;  and  represented  the  assumption 
of  the  public  debt,  and  the  establishment  of  a  National 
Bank,  as  stepping-stones  to  a  throne  in  America.  The 
Federalists  were  accused  of  innumerable  political  here 
sies  ;  among  which  was  enumerated  their  wish  to  esta 
blish  a  monarchy,  and  "make  a  king  to  judge  us  like 
all  the  nations."  Opinions  and  views  equally  heretical 
were  attributed  to  the  Democrats ;  and  they  were  de 
nounced  in  energetic  language  as  the  promoters  of  dis 
cord  and  disunion.  But  the  most  fruitful  theme  of 
party  invective  was  found  in  another  subject,  to  which  I 
proceed. 

III.  The  third  system  of  measures  upon  which  the 
parties  divided,  was  in  regard  to  our  relations  with  France 
and  Great  Britain. 

About  two  months  after  the  inauguration  of  President 
Washington,  the  States- General  of  France  assembled. 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  2G9 

Then  commenced  that  series  of  events  which  agitated 
the  civilized  world.  The  first  movements  of  the  French 
republicans  were  received  with  eagerness  and  hope  in 
the  United  States.  When  the  first  French  constitution 
was  adopted,  the  ardent  friends  of  free  government  in 
America  regretted  that  the  monarchical  feature  of  a  king 
was  retained.  When  the  king  was  dethroned,  and  the 
republic  decreed,  the  effect  in  our  own  country  was 
electric.  "  From  Maine  to  Georgia"  there  were  great 
rejoicings — loud  jubilations  that  the  late  ally  of  the 
American  colonies  had  shaken  off  monarchy  and  was 
become  a  great  republic. 

By  and  by  came  accounts  of  the  enormities — of  the 
awful  deeds  of  the  French  enthusiasts.  A  little  later, 
and  Europe  was  heaved  into  a  terrible  commotion.  Re 
volutionary  France  plunged  into  a  furious  war  with  all  her 
neighbours.  She  then  demanded  that  the  United  States 
should  come  to  her  aid,  and  help  her  to  convert  the 
world  to  republicanism.  A  treaty,  negotiated  in  the 
struggle  of  our  own  Revolution,  had  united  us  with  that 
nation  in  a  mutual  league.  Her  enemies  were  to  be  our 
enemies,  and  her  friends  our  friends.  When  the  French 
republicans  became  involved  in  the  furious  wars  of  their 
revolution,  they  availed  themselves  of  this  treaty  to  de 
mand  the  assistance  of  the  United  States. 

This  demand  furnished  abundant  matter  for  discussion 
between  the  parties  in  our  own  country ;  and  the  merits 
of  the  contest  in  Europe  were  warmly  debated.  The 
Democrats  thought  the  treaty  unconditionally  binding. 
The  Federalists  did  not  so  regard  it.  The  former 
sympathized  greatly  with  the  French  republicans  ;  but 
the  excesses  and  abuses  of  those  republicans  had  dimi 
nished  this  sympathy  among  the  Federalists.  To  adopt 
the  democratic  interpretation  of  the  treaty,  and  unite  our 
z* 


270  PROGRESS    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

arms  to  those  of  France,  would  plunge  us  into  the  great 
ocean  of  European  warfare.  England  had  formed  a 
coalition  on  the  continent  against  France  ;  and  the 
storm  raged  with  a  violence  never  before  witnessed. 
Wise  policy  required  the  United  States  to  keep  out  of 
the  quarrel ;  but  existing  treaties  seemed  to  demand  that 
they  should  take  part  in  it.  The  parties  in  the  United 
States  divided  upon  the  question ;  the  Democrats  con 
tending  that  our  government  was  bound  to  aid  the  French, 
and  the  Federalists  that  there  existed  no  such  obligation. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  great  and  awful  crisis  in  our  na 
tional  history. 

The  United  States  had  guarantied  to  France  her  pos 
sessions  in  the  West  Indies,  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  whose 
sympathies  had  been  warmly  enlisted  in  behalf  of  the 
French,  earnestly  desired  to  observe  this  guarantee. 
"  Mr.  Hamilton  and  the  rest  6f  the  aristocracy"  were 
resolved,  at  all  hazards,  to  keep  out  of  the  war ;  and 
they  did  keep  out  of  it.  They  kept  out  of  it ;  for  the 
Federalists  prevailed  ;  and  the  celebrated  proclama 
tion  of  Neutrality  was  issued  by  President  Washington. 
This  proclamation  announced  the  determination  of  the 
United  States  to  remain  neutral — to  be  mere  "  lookers- 
on  in  Vienna,"  during  the  European  uproar. 

In  the  discussion  of  this  measure  commenced  the 
severe  accusations  and  recriminations  of  the  parties 
against  each  other  respecting  foreign  influence.  The 
Democrats  accused  the  Federalists  of  being  under  Bri 
tish  influence,  and  alleged  that  they  favoured  the  procla 
mation  of  Neutrality  out  of  affection  to  Great  Britain. 
The  Federalists  recriminated,  and  charged  the  Demo 
crats  with  being  under  French  influence.  These  charges 
were  repeated  and  reiterated  from  the  time  of  the  pro 
clamation  of  Neutrality,  down  through  all  the  wars  of 


FEDERALISTS   AND   DEMOCRATS.  271 

the  French  revolution,  and  only  ceased  with  the  general 
peace  of  1815. 

An  unparalleled  degree  of  bitterness  was  produced 
by  these  reciprocal  accusations.  A  large  body  of  the 
people  had  entered  with  the  most  enthusiastic  devotion 
into  the  cause  of  French  republicanism.  This  ardour 
was  much  cooled  by  the  excesses  of  the  French  at  home, 
but  more  particularly  by  the  improper  conduct  of  their 
agents  in  our  own  country  in  attempting  to  control  the 
action  of  our  government. 

Notwithstanding  the  diminution  of  enthusiasm  caused 
by  these  facts,  there  still  remained  much  to  excite  the 
admiration  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  behalf 
of  French  republicanism.  The  existence  of  the  two 
parties  in  our  own  country,  and  the  accidental  circum 
stance  of  a  few  prominent  men  among  the  Democrats 
being  deeply  interested  in  the  progress  of  French  affairs, 
while  a  few  of  the  leading  Federalists  were  much  dis 
satisfied  with  the  outrages  of  French  democracy,  gave 
rise  to  great  diversities  of  opinion  among  the  people  of 
the  United  States  respecting  the  merits  of  the  French 
Revolution.  Though  both  parties  condemned  its  ex 
cesses  and  shuddered  at  its  outrages,  the  Democrats 
were  regarded  as  its  apologists  and  defenders,  and  the 
Federalists  as  its  opponents.  This  division  of  opinion 
was  accidental,  or,  in  other  words,  it  had  little  con 
nexion,  if  any,  with  the  main,  leading  ideas  of  the  two 
parties  in  our  own  country.  But  men  being  in  oppo 
sition  upon  one  subject,  very  commonly  get  into  oppo 
sition  upon  every  other.  This  so  happened  with  the 
parties  in  the  United  States.  They  entertained  different 
and  discordant  ideas  upon  certain  fundamental  principles 
of  our  government ;  and,  in  consequence  of  this  oppo 
sition,  they  took  different  views  of  almost  every  subject 


272  PROGRESS    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

which  came  to  be  discussed.  Each  watched  the  conduct 
of  the  other  with  a  jealous  eye,  and  condemned  opinions 
because  they  were  the  opinions  of  a  rival. 

The  proclamation  of  Neutrality,  however,  determined 
the  policy  of  the  United  States  in  regard  to  the  wars  in 
Europe.  That  this  policy  was  beneficial  to  the  country 
is  now  generally  admitted  ;  but  that  our  government  was 
bound  in  obedience  to  treaty  stipulation  to  take  part  in 
aid  of  France,  was  most  confidently  believed,  and*most 
positively  asserted  by  the  Democratic  party. 

But  our  relations  with  France  were  intimately  con 
nected  with  our  relations  with  Great  Britain.  Those 
nations  having  engaged  in  a  furious  war,  the  United 
States  were  exposed  to  the  injuries  which  are  usually 
inflicted  upon  weak  nations  by  powerful  belligerents. 
Our  commerce  was  exposed  to  their  rapacity,  and  suf 
fered  much.  When  the  war  between  the  trans-at- 
lantic  powers  involved  Europe  in  smoke  and  uproar, 
the  general  current  of  sympathy  in  the  United  States  ran 
strongly  in  favour  of  France  and  against  Great  Britain. 
The  commerce  of  the  states  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
Revolution ;  and  the  want  of  any  provision  for  its  pro 
tection  under  the  confederation,  left  it  to  live  languish- 
ingly  along  till  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  When 
the  proclamation  of  Neutrality  announced  the  determina 
tion  of  the  United  States  to  take  no  part  with  France, 
the  American  merchants  desired  to  profit  by  the  com 
motions  in  Europe,  and  make  gain  by  trafficking  with  all 
the  contending  parties.  This  hope  was,  however,  dis 
appointed  by  Great  Britain.  That  nation  adopted  cer 
tain  rules  for  the  regulation  of  neutral  commerce,  which 
were  soon  found  to  be  exceedingly  destructive  of  Ame 
rican  trade.  She  declared  provisions  to  be  contraband 
of  war,  and  prohibited  neutral  nations  from  shipping  or 


FEDERALISTS   AND   DEMOCRATS.  273 

carrying  them  to  countries  engaged  in  hostilities  with 
herself.  This  prohibition  operated  very  injuriously  to 
American  commerce ;  for  provisions  constituted  the 
greatest  part  of  our  export  trade,  and  the  rule  of  Great 
Britain  would  destroy  this  source  of  profit. 

Great  Britain  also  announced  her  determination  to 
search  our  merchant- vessels,  and  take  from  them  those 
whom  her  officers  might  choose  to  pronounce  British 
subjects.  The  United  States  were  much  opposed  also 
to  this  rule,  which  operated  the  more  injuriously  on  ac 
count  of  the  common  language  and  common  descent  of 
the  people  of  both  nations. 

To  adjust  these  and  other  difficulties,  Mr.  Jay  was 
sent  to  England,  where  he  negotiated  the  celebrated 
commercial  treaty  known  as  Jay's  Treaty.  What  were 
the  main  points  to  be  adjusted?  They  were  many  ;  but 
the  rule  about  provisions  and  the  right  of  search  were 
among  the  most  prominent.  What  did  he  obtain  in  fa 
vour  of  commerce  in  provisions  ?  Nothing.  What  did 
fce  obtain  in  the  matter  of  search?  Nothing.  These 
two  points  were  left  pretty  much  as  they  had  been.  A 
commercial  treaty  was  indeed  negotiated,  and  several 
advantages  secured.  But  the  main  objects  of  desire 
were  not  obtained.  Great  Britain  was  left  at  liberty  to 
seize  the  flour,  the  rice,  or  the  sugar  which  the  American 
merchants  might  attempt  to  ship  to  France.  She  was 
also  left  at  liberty  to  board  and  search  the  American 
merchant-vessels  for  seamen  and  subjects.  The  com 
mercial  treaty  was  negotiated  without  a  consolatory  word 
upon  these  matters. 

This  treaty,  after  great  and  serious  opposition,  was 
approved  by  the  Senate,  ratified  by  the  president,  and 
went  into  operation. 

A  burst  of  indignation  accompanied  its  ratification ; 


274  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

the  Federalists  slowly  became  its  defenders,  while  the 
Democrats  attacked  it  with  all  the  energy  of  indignation. 
The  press  levelled  its  artillery  against  it ;  popular  con 
ventions  passed  resolutions  condemning  it;  and  pam 
phlets  and  essays  without  number  gave  utterance  to  the 
opposition.  The  parties  became  more  widely  separated 
than  ever ;  and  the  cry  of  "  English  influence,"  "  Bri 
tish  gold,"  "  English  party,"  was  raised  still  louder,  and 
echoed  and  re-echoed  from  every  corner  of  the  land. 

In  the  meantime  discussions,  earnest,  long,  and  elo 
quent,  wrere  held  upon  various  propositions  arising  out 
of  our  relations  with  France  and  Britain.  Resolutions 
wrere  submitted  in  Congress  for  laying  an  embargo  upon 
our  commerce,  in  order  to  force  England  to  relinquish 
her  navigation  acts.  Other  resolutions  proposed  to  se 
quester  the  debts  owed  by  our  citizens  to  the  citizens  of 
Great  Britain,  and  bring  them  into  the  public  treasury 
to  indemnify  our  merchants  for  spoliations  committed 
upon  our  commerce  by  British  ships.  Another  series  of 
resolutions,  offered  by  Mr.  Madison,  proposed  to  make 
such  regulations  as  wrould  carry  our  commerce  and 
manufactures  to  France,  and  draw  them  away  from  the 
English  markets.  The  resolutions  of  Mr.  Madison  em 
braced  the  substance  of  the  commercial  scheme  proposed 
by  Mr.  Jefferson  on  the  eve  of  his  retirement  from  the 
cabinet  of  Washington. 

On  all  these  measures  of  foreign  policy,  the  parties 
were  rallied  in  opposition  to  each  other,  the  Democrats 
advocating  them  in  their  dissatisfaction  with  England, 
and  the  Federalists  opposing  them  in  hopes  of  preserving 
peace  with  that  country. 

While  these  viewrs  of  our  foreign  relations  were  agi 
tating  the  parties  at  home,  the  French  Revolution  had 
run  through  its  wildest  excesses,  and  was  subsiding  into 


FEDERALISTS   AND   DEMOCRATS.  275 

a  popularized  tyranny.  The  French  directory,  through 
its  agents,  was  perpetrating  outrages  upon  other  nations 
as  well  as  upon  the  French  people.  The  sympathy  of 
the  Democratic  party  in  the  United  States  with  the 
French  republicans,  gave  the  Federalists  many  advan 
tages.  In  like  manner,  the  forbearance  of  the  Fede 
ralists  towards  Great  Britain  furnished  the  means  of  re 
taliation  to  the  Democrats.  Every  outrage  of  the  French 
was  a  whip  with  which  the  Federalists  lashed  the  Demo 
crats,  and  every  injury  done  to  our  commerce  by  the 
British  furnished  the  Democrats  with  the  means  of  chas 
tising  the  Federalists. 

The  outrages  of  the  French  diplomatists  and  agents 
in  the  United  States  had,  at  several  times,  threatened 
serious  consequences.  The  firmness  and  energy  of  our 
government,  and  the  universal  affection  for  President 
Washington,  defeated  their  intrigues,  and  preserved  our 
neutrality.  But,  in  the  administration  of  President 
Adams,  the  relations  between  the  United  States  and 
France  assumed  a  very  serious  character,  and  became 
the  subject  of  severe  recriminations  between  the  Fede 
ralists  and  Democrats.  The  proclamation  of  neutrality 
had  given  umbrage  to  France  ;  and  Jay's  treaty  was  a 
farther  cause  of  dissatisfaction  to  that  nation.  The 
French  resorted  to  the  most  unjustifiable  measures  to 
draw  the  United  States  into  the  whirlpool  of  European 
politics.  French  privateers  attacked  our  commerce,  and 
committed  great  depredations  upon  it.  When  the 
American  ministers  in  France  remonstrated  against  these 
injuries,  they  were  ordered  to  leave  the  country.  An 
other  mission  was  sent ;  but  the  French  directory  de 
manded  a  sum  of  money  from  the  United  States  as  a 
preliminary  to  any  negotiation.  This  demand  was  ac 
companied  with  threats  of  vengeance  in  case  of  refusal. 


276  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Such  a  demand,  if  acquiesced  in,  would  in  all  probabi 
lity  have  been  repeated,  and  the  United  States  would 
have  become  tributary  to  France. 

When  informed  of  these  proceedings,  the  people  of 
the  United  States  were  amazed.  Partyism  was,  for  a 
moment,  absorbed  in  patriotism.  The  indignity  was 
not  to  be  tolerated.  An  American  feeling  rose  above 
every  other  ;  and  from  the  north  to  the  south,  from  the 
commercial  city  to  the  log  cabin,  from  the  distant  west 
to  the  Atlantic  border,  there  arose  one  long,  loud,  re 
echoed,  indignant  cry — 

"  Millions  for  defence,  not  a  cent  for  tribute." 

Regiments  were  voted,  an  army  was  organized,  and 
the  venerable  Father  of  his  Country  was  called  from  the 
shades  of  Mount  Vernon  to  take  the  chief  command. 
But  the  storm  passed  by  without  bursting  upon  our  young 
republic. 

These  events  placed  the  Federalists  in  the  ascendant. 
They  endeavoured,  and  in  part  succeeded,  in  the  attempt 
to  represent  the  Democrats  as  the  friends  and  apologists 
of  France  through  all  these  outrages.  But,  when  the 
alarm  ceased,  the  charges  of  foreign  influence  were  re 
doubled.  Party  strife  ran  high.  While  Washington 
sat  at  the  helm  of  government,  he  moderated  the  contest. 
Now  that  he  was  removed,  the  storm  burst  forth  with 
increased  violence.  When  the  apprehensions  of  a 
French  war  were  not  realized,  the  Democrats  slo\vly  re 
turned  to  their  former  position.  They  insisted  that  the 
danger  had  been  caused  by  the  Federalists,  either  inad 
vertently  through  improper  measures,  or  from  a  desire 
to  strengthen  the  national  government,  by  giving  it  the 
control  of  an  army,  and  the  management  of  a  war.  It 
was  urged  that  the  conduct  of  France  had  been  misre 
presented  by  men  under  British  influence.  To  all  these, 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  277 

and  similar  reproaches,  the  Federalists  replied  with  the 
arguments  and  eloquence  usually  employed  in  party  dis 
cussions. 

The  difference  of  opinion  about  our  foreign  relations 
did  not,  however,  terminate  with  the  administration  of 
President  Adams,  but  continued  during  the  administra 
tions  of  Jefferson  and  Madison.  The  embargo,  the  non- 
intercourse,  and  all  the  policy  and  measures  which  prece 
ded  and  accompanied  the  war  of  1812,  were  subjected  to 
the  ordeal  of  party  trial.  The  war  measures  of  Jefferson 
and  Madison,  it  is  well  known,  were  pretty  uniformly  op 
posed  by  the  Federalists.  The  war  of  1812  was  a  de 
mocratic  measure.  Had  the  Federalists  remained  in 
power,  the  United  States  would,  in  all  probability,  have 
been  engaged  in  a  French  war,  instead  of  an  English 
one.  Great  grievances  had,  indeed,  been  suffered  from 
both  Britain  and  France.  But  the  old  partialities  of  the 
Democrats  for  France,  sent  the  stripes  and  stars  against 
the  British. 

When  that  war  was  declared,  the  old  accusations  of 
French  influence  and  British  influence  were  still  re-echoed. 
The  Democrats  were  denounced  as  the  tools  of  Napo 
leon,  and  heavy  censures  pronounced  against  them.  It 
was  alleged  that  they  were  willing  to  ruin  their  country 
out  of  partiality  for  the  French  tyrant ;  and  it  was  de 
nounced  as  illiberal  and  iniquitous  to  engage  in  a  war 
with  Great  Britain,  when  she,  like  a  benevolent  friend, 
was  struggling  for  Christianity  and  civilization,  against 
French  atheism  and  rapine.  It  was  said  by  the  Fede 
ralists,  that  if  Napoleon  conquered  England,  he  would 
make  but  one  mouthful  of  the  United  States.  These 
charges,  as  usual,  were  retorted  ;  and  the  Federalists 
were  stigmatized  as  the,  adherents  of  Great  Britain — the 
British  party,  &c.  It  was  generally  believed  that  Bri- 

2A 


278  PROGRESS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

tish  instigation  had  set  on  the  northwestern  Indians  in 
1811 ;  and  it  was  notorious  that  she  had,  under  various 
pretexts,  seized  upon  a  thousand  of  our  commercial  ves 
sels.  The  Democrats  were  willing  to  admit  that  it  was  all 
very  benevolent  in  Great  Britain  to  keep  Napoleon  away 
from  the  United  States.  But  they  were  not  willing  to 
be  tomahawked  and  scalped  that  Great  Britain  might 
preserve  civilization  ;  nor  did  they  admit  that  she  ought 
to  destroy  our  commerce,  and  seize  our  ships,  in  order 
to  maintain  Christianity.  Their  philanthropy  stopped 
short  of  such  concessions.* 

Without  pursuing  these  matters  farther  in  detail,  we 
are  warranted  in  making  the  general  representation,  that 
our  foreign  relations  furnished  subjects  for  the  severest 
party  vituperation.  The  Federalists  were,  by  their  op 
ponents,  connected  with  the  interests  of  Great  Britain, 
and  the  Democrats  with  those  of  France.  The  thrilling 
events  of  the  French  revolution,  which  covered  the  time 
of  our  national  existence  from  its  beginning  in  1789 
until  the  year  1815,  continually  extended  their  influence 
to  our  country,  and  gave  great  acerbity  to  these  party 
discussions. 

We  must  here,  however,  repeat  what  has  already  been 


*  As  an  illustration  of  this  want  of  benevolence  on  the  part  of  the  De 
mocrats  towards  Great  Britain,  take  the  following  extract  from  a  con 
gressional  speech  of  the  Hon.  D.  R.  Williams  of  South  Carolina,  de 
livered  in  January,  A.  D.  1812,  on  the  eve  of  the  war. 

"  But  we  must  not  go  to  war  with  this  England  ;  she  is  fighting  for 
her  existence  !  If  her  existence,  sir,  depends  on  our  destruction,  then, 
I  say,  down  let  her  go.  She  is  contending  for  the  liberties  of  the 
world,  too,  it  seems.  I  would  as  soon  have  expected  to  hear  that  the 
Devil  had  espoused  the  cause  of  Christianity  !  Did  she  raise  the 
standard  of  liberty  in  India?  Is  it  to  extend  or  secure  the  blessings 
of  freedom  to  us,  that  the  fireside  and  the  cradle  are  exposed  to  savage 
incursions  in  the  west  at  this  time  ?" 


FEDERALISTS   AND   DEMOCRATS.  279 

advanced,  that  the  party  warfare  in  regard  to  our  foreign 
relations  was  accidental.  It  did  not  originate  the  par 
ties,  and  was  not  very  obviously  connected  with  the 
main  ideas  upon  which  they  separated.  The  preferences 
for  France  or  Great  Britain,  and  the  measures  proposed 
affecting  them,  came  in  by  way  of  addition  to  the  mate 
rials  of  partyism  already  existing.  The  measures 
growing  out  of  our  connexions  with  these  nations,  gave 
indeed  much  bitterness  to  party  strife  ;  but  there  was 
nothin^  in  the  radical  idea  of  the  Federalists  to  connect 

o 

them  in  sympathy  with  Britain,  nor  in  the  radical  idea 
of  the  Democrats  to  give  them  a  corresponding  connexion 
with  France. 

Having  presented  a  cursory  view  of  the  party  discus 
sions  which  grew  out  of  our  relations  with  France  and 
Britain,  let  us  return  to  those  measures  which  had  refe 
rence  more  exclusively  to  our  domestic  policy,  and 
which  gave  farther  occasion  to  party  contest. 

IV.  A  fourth  series  of  measures  on  which  the  parties 
differed,  was  in  regard  to  the  army  and  navy. 

In  the  administration  of  Washington,  the  hostilities 
of  the  Indians  on  the  west  required  some  provision  to  be 
made  for  an  army  ;  and  the  injuries  to  our  commerce  by 
the  Algerines  in  the  Mediterranean,  demanded  the  pro 
tection  of  a  navy.  The  projects  in  reference  to  these 
two  objects  gave  rise  to  much  warm  dj^cussion.  The 
main  ideas  of  the  two  parties  were  here,  however,  the 
groundwork  of  the  contest.  The  Federalists  advocated 
such  an  organization  of  the  army  and  navy  as  would  en 
able  the  government  most  effectively  to  protect  itself 
against  the  hostilities  of  the  Indians  and  Algerines.  In 
this  they  were  guided  by  the  leading  idea  of  their  party ; 
viz.,  that  the  government  was,  and  should  be  in  all  re 
spects,  able  to  protect  itself  and  the  citizens. 


280  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

The  Democrats  were  not  opposed  to  the  efficient 
action  of  the  government  against  these  enemies  ;  but  they 
found  fault  with  the  particular  organization  of  the  army 
\vhich  was  proposed,  and  they  also  opposed  the  forma 
tion  of  a  navy  in  every  form  in  which  the  project  wras 
presented.  The  government,  they  said,  would  receive 
a  dangerous  increase  of  power  from  the  proposed  army, 
but  a  still  more  dangerous  power  from  the  navy.  A 
navy  and  a  public  debt  they  alleged  were  inseparable 
companions ;  or  at  least  no  nation  maintaining  a  naval 
power  had  ever  been  known  to  pay  off  a  public  debt. 
The  immense  expense  connected  with  such  an  establish 
ment  would  perpetuate  the  debt  already  existing,  and 
thereby  increase  the  influence  of  the  general  govern 
ment.  They  therefore  preferred  that  the  United  States, 
instead  of  establishing  a  navy,  should  purchase  peace 
from  the  corsairs  in  the  Mediterranean,  or  hire  the  navy 
of  another  nation  to  protect  our  commerce  in  those  seas. 

They  also  alleged  that  a  small  navy  would  be  ex 
posed  to  seizure  by  Great  Britain  or  France,  and  that  a 
large  one  would  involve  an  expense  altogether  beyond 
the  means  of  our  government. 

These  views  were  popular  at  the  time ;  and  during 
the  administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams  no  ex 
tensive  or  permanent  provision  \vas  made  for  a  navy. 
President  Adams  indeed  was  in  favour  of  it ;  but  various 
accidental  circumstances  concurred  with  the  opposition 
of  the  Democrats  in  preventing  the  construction  of  ships 
of  war.  A  few  only  were,  from  time  to  time,  equipped. 
"When  Mr.  Jefferson  came  into  the  presidential  chair, 
he  entertained  opinions  adverse  to  the  naval  ser 
vice  ;  and  the  Democrats  having  opposed  the  measure 
under  former  administrations,  were  not  disposed,  when 
they  came  into  power,  to  veer  round  and  advocate  it. 


FEDERALISTS   AND    DEMOCRATS.  281 

Besides,  they  argued  that  to  build  vessels  of  war  would 
be  merely  building  ships  for  Great  Britain.  President 
Jefferson  accordingly  recommended  gun-boats  as  sub 
stitutes  for  ships  in  coast  and  harbour  defence.  Their 
model  and  origin  were  found  in  the  Mediterranean, 
where  they  had  long  been  used.  Gun-boats  accordingly 
were  built,  and  cradled  in  the  harbours  and  along  the 
coast  of  the  United  States.  But  the  plan  met  with  great 
and  serious  opposition.  The  Federalists  derided  it,  and 
averred  that  the  country  was  endangered  by  trusting  its 
maritime  defence  to  the  little,  low,  creeping  democratic 
tortoises. 

Great  earnestness  was  manifested  through  the  country 
in  the  discussion  of  this  subject ;  and  it  was  not  until  the 
capture  of  the  British  frigates  the  Guerriere  and  Java, 
that  the  two  parties  began  to  concur  in  acknowledging 
the  efficient  service  which  a  navy  might  render  to  our 
country.  When  that  demonstration  was  made,  the  gun 
boat  plan,  like  the  old  confederation,  was  genteelly  em 
balmed,  and  laid  away  among  other  mummies  in  the 
historical  catacombs  of  the  past. 

The  differences  of  opinion  relative  to  the  navy,  na 
turally  originated  in  the  main  ideas  upon  which  the 
parties  divided.  But  these  discussions  were  afterwards 
extended  and  continued  by  accidental  circumstances; 
and  much  of  the  energy  which  entered  into  them  was 
derived  from  party  excitement  rather  than  from  calm, 
deliberate  judgment. 

V.  Another  series  of  measures  upon  which  the  parties 
differed,  was  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws. 

The  insolence  of  the  French  at  the  commencement  of 
Mr.  Adams's  a-d ministration,  and  the  success  of  the  Fede 
ralists  in  using  that  insolence  to  cast  odium  upon  the  De 
mocrats,  led  to  some  important  results  in  regard  to  the 


282  PROGRESS    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

parties.  The  Federalists  being  in  the  full  tide  of  power 
and  popularity,  enacted  the  celebrated  Alien  and  Sedition 
Laws.  The  Sedition  law  was  designed  to  prohibit  all  per 
sons  from  speaking  or  writing  matters  disrespectful  to  the 
president,  and  other  officers  of  the  national  government. 
The  Alien  law  gave  authority  to  the  president  to  banish 
from  the  country  foreigners  who  conducted  themselves 
improperly,  and  whose  presence  might  be  deemed  dan 
gerous  to  the  peace  and  security  of  the  nation.  These 
laws  being  enacted  by  the  Federal  party,  were  seized 
upon  by  their  opponents  and  used  as  instruments  for  the 
political  ruin  of  the  party  in  power.  When  they  ap 
peared,  they  were  treated  as  ominous  novelties.  They 
came,  indeed,  directly  in  collision  with  the  main  idea  on 
which  the  Democratic  party  rested ;  for  they  were  adapted 
greatly  to  increase  the  powrer  of  the  general  government, 
and  to  give  to  the  president  the  authority  of  a  monarch 
and  a  tyrant.  They  were  accordingly  denounced  in 
most  unqualified  language ;  and  the  Democratic  party 
sounded  the  alarm,  that  the  republic  was  degenerating 
into  an  aristocracy  or  despotism.  Towards  the  close  of 
Mr.  Adams's  administration,  this  party  violence  was  at 
its  height.  Mr.  Jefferson  thus  describes  it  in  a  letter  to 
Governor  Rutledge : 

"  You  and  I  have  formerly  seen  warm  debates  and 
high  political  passions ;  but  gentlemen  of  different  po 
litics  would  then  speak  to  each  other.  It  is  not  so  now. 
Men  who  have  been  intimate  all  their  lives  cross  the 
streets  to  avoid  meeting,  and  turn  their  heads  another 
way,  lest  they  should  be  obliged  to  touch  their  hats." 

To  promote  this  acerbity  of  feeling,  the  Federalists 
adopted  the  black  cockade  as  a  mark  of  party  distinc 
tion  ;  and  a  man  distinguished  his  political  friends  by 
looking  for  this  symbol  of  the  Federal  creed.  The  force 


FEDERALISTS   AND   DEMOCRATS.  283 

necessary  to  execute  the  sedition  law  greatly  aided  in 
rendering  these  measures  odious,  and  increased  the  ma 
terials  of  party  strife.  Divisions  also  began  to  appear 
among  the  Federalists,  arising  in  part  from  the  course 
pursued  by  the  administration/  Mr.  Hamilton,  for  ex 
ample,  even  ventured  to  publish  a  pamphlet  to  prove 
that  Mr.  Adams  was  unfit  for  the  presidency ;  and  while 
the  Democrats  denounced  him  as  the  friend  of  monarchy 
and  aristocracy,  some  of  the  leading  Federalists  were 
also  condemning  him  mainly  because  he  inclined  too 
much  to  the  democratic  creed.  They  did  not  allege 
that  he  belonged  to  the  democratic  party ;  for  he  was 
the  representative  of  the  Federalists ;  but,  to  adopt  the 
language  of  those  times,  he  was  not  quite  monarchical 
enough  for  many  prominent  men  of  his  party.  These 
discontents  among  the  Federalists,  joined  to  the  great 
unpopularity  of  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  were  the 
means  of  ousting  them  from  power. 

Thus  the  hour  of  federal  triumph  was  the  hour  of 
federal  weakness  ;  and ,  at  the  close  of  Mr.  Adams's  ad 
ministration,  the  political  wheel  made  a  semi-revolution. 
The  Federalists  went  down,  and  the  Democrats  went  up. 
In  1801,  Mr.  Jefferson  obtained  the  presidential  chair; 
his  party  came  into  power,  and  the  Federalists  became 
the  opposition. 

An  old  musician,  named  Steven,  was  accustomed  to 
sing  most  vigorously,  and  beat  time  with  his  foot. 
When  his  body  was  laid  to  its  final  resting-place,  his  his 
tory  was  told  in  the  short  epitaph, 

"  Steven  and  time  are  now  both  even, 
Steven  beat  time,  now  time  's  beat  Steven." 

Similar  to  this  contest  was  the  struggle  of  the  two 
parties.  Each  in  turn  beat  the  other.  Each  had  its 
hours  of  success  and  its  hours  of  prostration. 


284       PROGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  prostration  of  the  Federalists  may  be  directly  at 
tributed  to  the  alien  and  sedition  laws  ;  but  if  we  look 
a  little  more  extensively  at  the  general  current  of  human 
events,  we  might  be  disposed  to  attribute  this  change  in 
the  position  of  the  parties  to  influences  of  a  more  general 
character.  Our  republican  system  can  only  be  properly 
developed  by  being  in  turn  administered  by  men  of  dif 
ferent  political  view's.  I  do  not  mean  that  men  friendly 
to  monarchy,  or  to  aristocracy,  or  to  other  forms  of  le 
gitimacy,  should  have  the  privilege  of  trying  howr  they 
could  administer  our  republic.  But  I  mean  that  the  ex 
cellence  of  our  political  system  is  more  fully  developed 
by  the  alternate  ascendency  of  men  who  entertain  differ 
ent  views  of  policy  and  measures,  but  who  all  have  a 
common  faith  in  the  sanctity  and  practicability  of  demo 
cratic  government.  If  such  a  developement  is  promoted 
by  an  occasional  change  of  parties,  it  is  not  speculating 
too  much  to  say,  that  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  or 
the  quarrel  among  the  Federalists,  were  not  the  only 
causes  of  the  change  of  the  parties  in  1801.  The  per 
manence  of  free-government  was,  perhaps,  promoted, 
by  having  it  administered  in  succession  by  individuals 
of  different  political  creeds.  Men  advocating  one  theory 
of  republicanism,  had  tried  their  system.  The  time  had 
arrived  when  the  other  theory — the  one  so  earnestly  de 
fended  and  enforced  by  the  Democrats — was  to  be 
brought  to  the  test  of  practice.  Accordingly  the  parties 
changed  positions. 

Other  measures  beside  those  now  enumerated  afforded 
scope  for  party  discussion.  The  purchase  of  Louisiana 
was  advocated  by  the  Democrats,  and  opposed  by  the 
Federalists.  But  the  parties  had  then  changed  places 
in  the  government,  and  neither  of  them  acted  any  longer 
upon  those  leading  ideas  on  which  the  division  originally 


FEDERALISTS   AND    DEMOCRATS.  285 

occurred.  They  had,  in  fact,  exchanged  ideas  as  well 
as  positions. 

In  looking  over  the  measures  upon  which  the  parties 
differed,  we  observe  them  to  be  divisible  into  two  classes  ; 
the  one  class  relating  to  our  domestic  policy,  the  other 
to  our  foreign  relations.  In  the  first  class  of  measures 
are  contained  those  concerning  the  public  debt — the  es 
tablishment  of  a  national  bank — the  creation  of  an  army 
and  navy — the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  &c.  In  the 
second  class  of  measures  are  contained  Jay's  treaty — the 
proclamation  of  neutrality — Mr.  Madison's  resolutions, 
the  embargo — and  the  various  war  measures,  both  in  the 
threatened  French  war  of  1797,  and  in  the  actual  British 
war  of  1812.  The  measures  of  the  first  class — those  re 
lating  to  our  domestic  policy — were  the  actual  basis  of 
the  division  into  parties.  They  each  involved  the 
question,  Does  this  measure  confer  a  dangerous  power 
upon  the  national  government  ?  On  trying  each  of  these 
measures  by  this  question,  the  Federalists  said  No,  and 
the  Democrats,  Yes.  This  was  the  answer  of  the  parties 
respectively,  in  regard  to  the  public  debt,  the  national 
bank,  the  navy,  and  the  alien  and  sedition  laws.  The 
unconstitutionality  of  some  of  these  measures  was  also 
earnestly  maintained  by  the  Democrats.  But  the 
question  just  stated  was  the  general  test  by  which  they 
were  all  tried. 

The  measures  of  the  second  class — those  involving 
our  foreign  relations — became  party  measures  rather  ac 
cidentally  than  by  system.  They  were,  indeed,  most 
warmly  contested  ;  but — like  questions  of  legislation  re 
ferred  to  standing  committees — the  questions  of  foreign 
policy  gave  rise  to  no  new  parties,  but  became  matters 
of  discussion  between  those  already  existing.  The 
pulsations  of  Europe  have,  for  the  last  three  centuries, 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

communicated  themselves  to  America.  It  was,  therefore, 
a  natural,  because  an  ordinary  result,  that  when  Europe 
became  involved  in  strife,  such  as  the  strife  of  the  French 
revolution,  the  people  of  America  should  become,  at  least 
in  sympathy,  enlisted  with  one  or  other  of  the  contending 
nations.  This  in  fact  occurred.  But  that  the  sympa 
thies  of  the  Democrats  ran  more  strongly  than  those  of 
the  Federalists  in  favour  of  France,  was,  as  we  have  re 
peatedly  said,  an  accident,  and  not  the  result  of  their 
system.  The  preferences  for  France  or  Britain  became 
party  preferences  ;  because  a  few  prominent  individuals 
in  the  democratic  party  felt  a  sympathy  for  France,  and 
a  few  others  in  the  federal  party  rather  sympathized  with 
Britain.  Some  other  accidental  circumstances  combining 
with  these,  exalted  the  question  of  foreign  preferences 
to  a  question  between  the  two  existing  parties.  The 
measures  of  domestic  policy  were,  however,  the  ground 
work  of  the  party  division.  The  Federalists,  especially 
when  in  power,  acted  upon  the  main  idea  of  construing 
the  Constitution  and  adopting  their  measures  so  as  to 
form  and  preserve  a  strong  national  government.  The 
Democrats,  especially  before  they  came  into  power, 
acted  upon  the  main  idea  of  so  construing  the  Con 
stitution,  and  adopting  such  measures,  that  the  greatest 
possible  amount  of  power  would  be  left  with  the 
states.  Taking  these  to  be  the  main  ideas  of  the  par 
ties,  a  few  general  remarks  may  place  their  principles 
and  proceedings  in  a  more  luminous  point  of  view. 

(1.)  The  first  remark  to  be  made  is  that  the  parties 
exchanged  political  creeds  when  they  exchanged  posi 
tions.  The  party  in  power  generally  advocated  and 
practised  the  federal  doctrine,  and  the  party  out  of  power 
generally  advocated  the  democratic  doctrine.  It  has 
been  remarked  of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  that  no  matter 


FEDERALISTS   AND   DEMOCRATS.  287 

what  had  been  their  views  of  ecclesiastical  government 
before  their  elevation  to  the  pontificate,  they  all,  when 
elected  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  pursued  substantially 
the  same  policy.  The  early  political  parties  in  our 
country  exhibited  a  similar  fact  in  their  history.  When 
the  Democrats  were  out  of  power,  previously  to  the 
election,  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  they  advocated  that  system 
of  measures  which  would  leave  the  least  possible 
amount  of  power  in  the  general  government.  This,  as 
we  have  laboured  to  show,  was  the  leading  idea  of  their 
creed. 

In  1801  they  came  into  power. 

What  became  of  their  creed  then  ?  They  purchased 
Louisiana ;  they  laid  an  embargo  ;  they  declared  war ; 
they  established  a  navy ;  they  created  a  national  bank. 
Here  were  several  of  the  measures  which  they  had  op 
posed  before  their  accession  to  power.  The  bank,  the 
navy,  and  the  embargo  were  in  substance  the  very  mea 
sures  which  the  leading  idea  of  their  political  creed  had 
caused  them  to  reprobate  before  they  came  to  administer 
the  government.  And  how  could  the  purchase  of  Lou 
isiana  be  defended  upon  the  principle  of  a  strict  con 
struction  of  the  constitution  ?  Where  is  there  in  that 
instrument  any  power  directly  given  to  the  general  go 
vernment  to  purchase  foreign  territory  ?  The  policy  of 
the  purchase  is  not  now  in  question  ;  but  the  power  to 
make  it  can  only  be  found  in  the  constitution  by  giving 
to  it  that  liberal  construction  which  was  once  contended 
for  by  the  Federalists,  and  condemned  by  the  Democrats. 

We  are  here  expressing  neither  approbation  nor  dis 
approbation  of  this  change  in  the  main  idea  of  the  old 
democratic  party.  We  are  merely  reciting  the  fact,  that 
when  they  came  into  power  they  pursued  substantially 
the  same  measures,  and  adopted  that  latitude  of  consti- 


PROGRESS    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

tutional  construction  which  they  had  reprobated  when 
out  of  power. 

But  the  Democrats  were  not  the  only  men  who  re 
ceded  from  their  ground  after  they  obtained  the  admi 
nistration  of  the  government  in  1801.  The  Federalists 
made  a  similar  change ;  but  instead  of  moving  onward 
to  a  more  rigid  and  stringent  theory  of  government, 
they  countermarched,  and  occupied  pretty  nearly  the 
same  ground  that  had  been  formerly  held  by  their  op 
ponents.  When  they  were  in  the  ascendency,  they  ad 
vocated  a  large  power  in  the  general  government,  and 
a  liberal  construction  of  the  constitution.  This  theory 
led  them  to  adopt  those  measures  which  have  been 
already  noticed.  But  when  the  political  wheel  made  its 
revolution,  and  left  them  out  of  place,  they  forthwith 
abandoned  the  main  idea  of  their  theory,  and  opposed 
measures  similar  in  principle  to  those  which  they  for 
merly  advocated.  For  example,  they  opposed  the  pur 
chase  of  Louisiana,  and  the  various  war  measures  of 
Jefferson  and  Madison.  The  embargo,  the  non-inter 
course,  the  declaration  of  war,  and  the  subordinate 
military  movements,  found  no  favour  in  their  eyes. 
These  measures,  they  said,  accumulated  too  much  power 
in  the  general  government,  and  endangered  our  repub 
lican  system.  If  we  look  from  their  opposition  of  mea 
sures  to  their  political  creed  as  promulgated  in  their  con 
ventions,  and  addresses,  and  pamphlets,  and  whole  party 
life,  after  A.  D.  1800,  we  find  that  they  ceased  to  ad 
vocate  a  strong  national  government.  The  Hartford 
Convention  talked  about  the  constitution  in  the  language 
of  the  Democrats  of  1798,  and  proposed  amendments 
to  it  that  would  have  materially  abridged  the  power  of 
the  general  government. 

When  the  war  of  1812   agitated  the  country,  the 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  289 

Federalists  denounced  it,  and  laid  the  sin  of  the  strife 
upon  the  Democratic  administration.  They  endeavoured 
to  exculpate  Great  Britain  at  the  expense  of  our  own 
government.  We  might  draw  a  comparison  between 
their  conduct  on  this  occasion  and  the  conduct  of  the 
Democrats  in  1798,  in  regard  to  the  threatened  French 
war.  Each  in  its  proper  season  found  fault  with  the  ex 
isting  administration,  and  denounced  it  for  attempting  to 
increase  its  influence  by  plunging  the  country  into  a  fo 
reign  war.  What  the  Democrats  would  have  done  in 
the  event  of  an  actual  French  war  in  1798,  is  merely 
matter  of  speculation.  They  apologized  for  the  inso 
lence  of  the  French,  pretty  much  as  the  Federalists  apo 
logized  for  the  outrages  of  Great  Britain  in  the  war  of 
1812 ;  and  we  know  that  the  Federalists  were  politically 
ruined  by  their  opposition  to  that  war.  Each  party  was, 
in  turn,  placed  in  a  disadvantageous  light  by  under 
taking  an  indiscriminate  opposition  to  the  measures  of 
the  other.  The  Democrats  when  out  of  power  had  op 
posed  almost  all  the  measures  of  the  federal  administra 
tion,  and  in  consequence  were  compelled  to  bear  griev 
ous  burdens.  The  Federalists,  after  1801,  undertook 
a  similar  indiscriminate  opposition  to  the  measures  of 
the  democratic  administrations,  and  were  broken  down 
and  politically  annihilated  in  the  attempt.  Had  each 
party  restrained  itself  so  as  to  come  in  collision  with  the 
other  only  on  measures  involving  their  fundamental  and 
main  ideas,  both  would  have  fared  better.  Such,  how 
ever,  is  the  tendency  of  partyism.  At  variance  upon 
one  point,  men  are  not  predisposed  to  harmonize  upon 
another  ;  and  the  parties  accordingly  not  only  exchanged 
positions  upon  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  but  they 
also  exchanged  ideas  and  conduct. 

In  saying  that  they  exchanged  ideas,  we  refer  of 
2u 


290  PROGRESS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

course  to  their  ideas  upon  a  strong  or  narrowly-limited 
general  government,  which  constituted  their  primary 
dividing  line.  We  do  not  refer  to  federalism  as  it  was 
represented  by  the  Democrats,  nor  to  democracy  as  it 
was  represented  by  the  Federalists.  If  the  Federalists, 
composed  of  (C  Mr.  Hamilton  and  the  rest  of  the  aristo 
cracy,"  were  averse  to  our  republican  system ;  if  they 
were  friends  of  monarchy  or  of  legitimacy  in  any  shape  ; 
if  they  were  political  aristocrats,  who  preferred  a  heredi 
tary  king  to  an  elective  president,  and  the  British  con 
stitution  to  our  popular  government ;  if  the  Federalists 
were  political  renegades  of  this  description,  then  the 
Democrats  did  not  adopt  their  ideas.  If  the  Democrats, 
on  the  other  hand,  were  without  principle,  and  opposed 
to  all  government ;  political  buccaneers ;  mere  levellers 
in  faith  and  practice,  then  the  Federalists  did  not  adopt 
their  ideas.  But  in  regard  to  the  primary  dividing  line 
of  the  parties — the  strength  or  weakness  of  the  general 
government — when  they  exchanged  positions  they  ex 
changed  ideas  and  conduct. 

(2.)  Another  fact  in  the  history  of  the  parties  is  that, 
previously  to  the  war  of  1812,  they  were  pretty  equally 
divided  in  point  of  members,  talents,  leading  men,  and 
property.  Pure  and  impure  materials  entered  into  the 
composition  of  them  both.  The  accidental  circum 
stances  of  connexions,  interests,  and  prejudices,  were 
so  distributed  that  the  one  party  was  nearly  or  altogether 
upon  an  equality  with  the  other.  It  was  in  the  first  ad 
ministration  of  Washington  that  the  party  lines  were 
drawn,  when  the  country  was  agitated  with  the  questions 
of  the  public  debt  and  the  national  bank.  The  influ 
ence  of  Washington  was  exerted  to  cool  the  warmth  of 
the  contending  parties  rather  than  to  sustain  either  in  its 
ultraism.  With  the  leaders,  Jefferson  and  Hamilton,  in 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  291 

his  first  cabinet,  he  became  well  acquainted  with  the 
views  and  wishes  of  each  party.  He  maintained  the 
peace  of  the  country,  when  the  outrages  of  the  French 
impelled  the  Federalists  to  a  rupture.  He  endeavoured 
to  pour  the  oil  of  tranquillity  upon  the  agitated  ocean, 
when  the  Democrats  invoked  him  to  resent  the  indigni 
ties  of  Britain.  He  signed  Jay's  treaty,  when  the  con 
sequences  of  its  rejection  would  have  been,  in  all  proba 
bility,  an  immediate  war.  In  his  views  of  the  constitu 
tion  it  would  seem  that  he  adopted,  in  the  main,  the 
leading  idea  of  the  Federalists,  and  desired  a  strong  na 
tional  government.  But  both  parties  sought  to  appro 
priate  the  force  of  his  character  to  the  support  of  their 
pretensions.  On  this  point,  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  the  evening 
of  life,  speaks  out  with  the  same  warmth  and  decision 
which  marked  the  mid-day  of  the  strife,  and  says, 

"  The  Federalists,  pretending  to  be  the  exclusive 
friends  of  General  Washington,  have  ever  done  what 
they  could  to  sink  his  character,  by  hanging  theirs  on  it, 
and  by  representing  as  the  enemy  of  republicans,  him 
who  of  all  men  is  best  entitled  to  the  appellation  of  the 
father  of  that  republic  which  they  were  endeavouring  to 
subvert,  and  the  republicans  to  maintain." — Corr.  Vol. 
iv.  406. 

But  leaving  out  of  view  General  Washington,  as  a 
man  too  exalted  to  be  the  mere  head  of  a  party,  we  find 
among  the  Federalists,  Hamilton,  and  Adams,  and 
Ames,  and  Jay,  and  Pickering,  and  others,  who  were 
ornaments  to  their  country  and  to  mankind.  Jefferson, 
and  Madison,  and  Gerry,  and  others,  appeared  in  the 
opposite  rank,  and  by  their  talents  and  influence  gave  an 
impulse  to  its  several  parts.  The  leaders,  on  both  sides, 
played  off  their  artillery  with  all  the  effect  which  experi 
ence  and  earnestness  could  give  them,  and  gained  the 


292  PROGRESS   OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

support  of  many  whose  views  of  national  matters  were 
limited  to  the  township  or  village  in  which  they  voted. 

By  the  Don  Quixote  above  quoted,  we  are  told  that 
the  Federalists  prevailed  in  the  northern  states,  and  the 
Democrats  had  the  ascendancy  in  the  south.  This  is  a 
correct  statement  of  their  geographical  distribution.  In 
the  region  where  the  Federalists  prevailed,  they  embraced 
the  greater  part  of  the  wealth,  talent,  and  influence  of 
the  country.  In  the  south  and  west,  where  the  De 
mocrats  prevailed,  they  monopolized  the  wealth,  the 
talent,  and  the  influence. 

(3.)  Another  fact  in  the  history  of  the  parties  is  that  each 
was,  in  general,  influenced  by  upright,  patriotic  motives. 
The  peculiar  circumstances  of  our  republican  system 
very  naturally  produced  the  Federalists  and  the  Demo 
crats — the  former  to  contend  for  an  energetic  national 
government,  and  the  latter  for  the  accumulation  of  power 
in  the  state  governments.  The  peculiar  circumstances 
of  the  European  family  of  nations,  and  the  bursting  forth 
of  the  French  revolution,  contemporary  writh  the  organi 
zation  of  our  republic,  furnished  materials  for  discussion 
to  the  parties  already  formed  in  our  country.  Accusa 
tions  of  French  influence  were  heaped  upon  the  heads 
of  the  Democrats.  Similar  accusations  of  British  influ 
ence  were  hurled  against  the  Federalists ;  and  a  recri 
minating  warfare  was  waged,  in  which  the  figures  of 
rhetoric  were  exhausted,  and  every  shade  of  contempt 
expressible  by  word,  or  deed,  or  feature,  was  expressed 
by  each  party  towards  the  other.  Each  treated  its  rival 
with  the  disdain  of  the  old  epigrammatist  who  told  the 
screaking  fiddler, 

"  Old  Orpheus  play'd  so  well  he  moved  old  Nick, 
But  thou  mov'st  nothing  but  thy  fiddle-stick." 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  293 

The  truth  however  is,  that  both  parties  were  free 
from  foreign  influence.  Neither  cared  for  France  or 
Great  Britain  farther  than  it  was  impelled  by  views  of 
national  policy  and  commercial  profit.  The  sympathy, 
indeed,  of  all  parties  was  enlisted  with  the  French  at 
the  commencement  of  their  revolution ;  and  France, 
having  offered  the  United  States  free  entrance  into  her 
ports,  presented  the  prospect  of  more  commercial  gain 
than  was  offered  by  Great  Britain.  But  France  was 
under  American  influence,  rather  than  the  Democrats 
under  French  influence.  "  The  French,"  says  the 
author  of  Lacon,  "  served  an  apprenticeship  to  Liberty 
in  America,  went  home,  and  set  up  for  themselves.  But 
the  machine  they  built  was  so  ill  contrived,  and  ran  so 
fast,  that  it  set  itself  on  fire  and  killed  all  the  workmen." 

The  Democrats  had  certainly  no  improper  control 
from  France,  nor  the  Federalists  from  Great  Britain  ; 
yet  each  party  denounced  the  leaders  of  the  other  on  the 
ground  of  foreign  influence;  and  the  periodicals  of  that 
day  groan  with  the  harsh  language  and  heavy  charges 
which  party  zeal  employed.  For  example,  Mr.  Jefferson 
was  singled  out  to  receive  the  reprobations  of  the  flaming 
Federalists.  Every  bad  motive  in  the  calendar  of  po 
litical  immorality  was  imputed  to  him  ;  and  snakes,  and 
creeping  things,  and  vile  animals,  in  the  kingdom  of 
brutes,  were  pressed  into  the  service,  and  employed  to 
figure  forth  his  degradation. 

On  the  other  hand  Mr.  Hamilton  and  Mr.  Adams 
received  the  severe  accusations  of  the  Democrats.  Mr. 
Hamilton  was  accused  of  a  design  to  establish  a  monarchy 
on  the  model  of  the  British  constitution.  His  plan  for 
a  national  bank,  and  for  the  assumption  of  the  state 
debts,  was  alleged  to  arise  from  a  desire  to  rule  in 
America  by  bribery  and  corruption.  By  the  bank  and 
2u* 


294  PROGRESS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

public  debt  he  could  rule  Congress,  and,  like  Walpole, 
govern  by  bargain  and  sale.  He  would  thus  introduce 
monarchy,  while  the  people  were  amused  and  deluded 
with  the  forms  of  republicanism. 

President  Adams,  also,  after  the  enactment  of  the  alien 
and  sedition  laws,  became  the  target  for  all  the  shots  of 
the  Democrats.  He  was  compared  to  every  image  of 
tyranny,  from  Nebuchadnezzar  and  his  burning  furnace 
to  the  great  beast  in  the  Revelations  with  the  seven  heads 
and  ten  horns.  Aristocratical  and  monarchical  doctrines 
were  attributed  to  him ;  and  the  actions  of  his  public  life, 
and  the  productions  of  his  pen,  were  alike  viewed 
through  the  smoked  discolouring  glass  of  party  prejudice. 

But  party  denunciations  were  not  confined  to  these 
prominent  men.  When  our  difficulties  with  England 
led  to  the  embargo,  the  non-intercourse,  and  finally  to 
war,  the  Federalists  kept  up  against  the  Democrats  a 
continual  fire ;  and  charges  of  tyranny,  monarchy,  cor 
ruption,  foreign  influence,  and  wanton  ruin,  were  heaped 
upon  the  party  in  power. 

But,  removed  in  time  from  those  spirit-stirring  scenes, 
we  can  look  back  upon  these  railing  accusations,  and 
find  much  to  admire  in  those  most  worthy  men  who 
acted  in  the  young  days  of  our  republic.  Their  mutual 
charges  of  corruption,  and  tyranny,  and  monarchical 
views,  we  must  attribute  to  the  warmth  of  party  zeal. 
It  requires  no  great  exercise  of  chanty  to  acquit  them 
entirely  of  all  such  accusations,  and  to  believe  them 
all  to  have  been  genuine  friends  of  their  country, 
and  friends  of  our  republican  system.  There  is  enough 
in  the  circumstances  of  those  times  to  account  for  the 
conduct  of  both  parties,  without  supposing  either  of  them 
to  have  been  destitute  of  patriotism  or  republican  virtue. 
And,  indeed,  if  we  look  at  the  conduct  and  whole  lives 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  295 

of  the  leading  men  of  both  parties,  we  are  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  were  men  who  loved  democracy, 
and  hated  legitimacy  in  all  its  forms  and  developements. 
The  establishment  of  a  national  government  was  a  new 
and  untried  experiment,  and  patriots  formed  different 
views  of  its  dangers,  necessities,  and  structure.  Patrick 
Henry  raised  his  voice  against  the  adoption  of  our  na 
tional  constitution  ;  yet  who  ever  suspected  his  patriotism, 
or  believed  that  he  was  a  friend  of  aristocracy  or  monar 
chy  ?  John  Hancock  feared  that  our  constitution  would 
lead  to  tyranny ;  but  was  he,  therefore,  a  corrupt  man, 
and  an  enemy  to  republicanism  ?  And  if  we  come  down 
to  Jefferson,  and  Madison,  and  Hamilton,  and  Adams, 
and  their  associates,  we  find  differences  of  opinion — 
and  various  theories  of  government — but  democracy 
was  the  common  basis  on  which  all  those  men  stood. 
They  might  have  basked  in  the  sunshine  of  the  British 
throne  ;  but  they  preferred  a  republic  in  America  to  all 
the  stars,  and  garters,  and  ribbons  of  England.  For 
this  republic  they  had  contended  even  when  the  British 
halter  was  prepared  for  their  neck  ;  and  in  the  dark  hours 
of  revolutionary  adversity  they  had  fixed  their  eye  upon 
the  flag  of  their  country,  and  were  ever  ready  to  join  in 
the  choral  song, 

"  For  ever  float  that  standard  sheet ! 
Where  breathes  the  foe  but  falls  before  us, 
With  Freedom's  soil  beneath  our  feet 
And  Freedom's  banner  streaming  o'er  us  ?" 

Adams  was  an  ultra  republican  in  the  days  of  stamp 
acts  and  tea  bills ;  and  even  in  Boston — refractory,  re 
volutionary  Boston — he  outstripped  the  spirit  of  oppo 
sition  to  British  tyranny ;  and  old  men,  haters  of  Eng 
lish  oppression,  pointed  at  him  as  a  young  enthusiast  of 
liberty,  whose  zeal  had  run  away  with  his  judgment. 


296  PROGRESS   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

To  him  the  country  owed  the  appointment  of  Washington 
as  commander- in-chief ;  he  moved  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  ;  and  to  his  unchanging  zeal  his  country  is 
witness.  Jefferson  also  was  a  prominent  advocate  of  the 
Revolution ;  and  his  uniform  defence  of  democratic  in 
stitutions  exhibits  his  unceasing  hostility  to  monarchy 
and  every  form  of  legitimacy.  With  these  two  cham 
pions  were  associated  in  opposite  parties  many  others 
of  kindred  spirits.  Such  men  are  beyond  the  suspicion 
of  monarchical  views,  or  of  a  project  to  ruin  their 
country.  Their  differences  were  such  as  may  exist 
among  honest  men,  and  their  measures  were  in  general 
the  result  of  their  different  theories  of  republicanism  in 
its  connexion  with  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the 
country.  Their  common  honesty  may  be  well  expressed 
in  the  language  of  Washington,  who,  in  writing  to  Jef 
ferson  respecting  the  differences  of  opinion  between  that 
gentleman  and  Hamilton,  says: 

"I  will  frankly  and  solemnly  declare,  that  I  believe 
the  views  of  both  to  be  pure  and  well  meant,  and  that 
experience  only  will  decide  with  respect  to  the  salubrity 
of  the  measures  which  are  the  subjects  of  dispute." 

This  opinion  of  the  Father  of  his  Country  we  would 
willingly  extend  from  these  prominent  men,  and  apply 
it  to  the  parties  of  which  they  were  the  respective  chiefs. 
That  many  errors  \vere  committed,  and  many  ill-advised 
measures  adopted,  cannot  be  denied.  The  alien  and 
sedition  laws,  for  example,  were  certainly  not  in  har 
mony  with  the  genius  of  our  institutions.  But  it  is  judg 
ing  the  fathers  of  our  republic  by  too  severe  a  rule,  to 
condemn  them  for  every  error  which  was  committed  in 
the  commencement  of  an  untried  system  of  government. 
It  is  more  just  to  the  memory  of  those  worthy  men  to 
award  to  them  the  credit  of  honesty  and  patriotism,  and 


FEDERALISTS   AND    DEMOCRATS.  297 

to  put  down  their  errors  to  the  account  of  the  common 
imperfections  of  our  nature.  Their  names  are  with  the 
dead  ;  their  reputation  is  in  the  keeping  of  their  country. 
As  part  of  that  country,  we  repeat  what  wre  have  already 
asserted,  that  the  two  political  parties  were,  in  the  main, 
honest  in  their  belief,  patriotic  in  their  intentions,  and 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  republicanism.  The  meii  of 
the  one  party  did  not  love  France,  nor  those  of  the 
other  Britain,  to  the  injury  of  their  own  democratic 
America.  For  their  own  country  they  cared  ;  her  they 
loved,  and  her  institutions  they  desired  to  perfect.  We 
might  present  a  single  example  of  this  preference  of  our 
own  country,  and  then  generalize  it  so  as  to  extend  its 
principle  to  the  men  of  all  parties.  Let  us  select  one 
such  example.  Take  the  following :  When  French  de 
mocracy  ran  wild,  and,  among  other  excesses,  sent  the 
minister  Genet  to  disturb  our  republic,  severe  accusa 
tions  of  subserviency  to  France  were  alleged  against  the 
Democrats.  Jefferson,  the  head  of  that  party,  corres 
ponded,  in  his  official  capacity  as  secretary  of  state,  with 
the  French  minister ;  and  when  the  correspondence  was 
published,  what  evidence  of  French  influence  was  de 
veloped  ?  Not  a  particle.  The  correspondence  on  his 
part  was  all  over  American.  Extend  this  example — at 
tribute  a  similar  nationality  to  the  conduct  of  the  two 
parties,  and  we  have  a  fair  representation  of  that  Ame 
rican  influence  which  was  at  work. 

But  there  is  another  idea  deserves  to  be  mentioned 
in  this  connexion. 

(4.)  In  viewing  the  political  creeds  of  the  parties  by 
the  light  of  a  larger  experience,  we  must  not  condemn 
the  Federalists  or  Democrats  because  their  doctrines  or 
measures  may  have  been  perverted,  or  their  sympathies 
bestowed  upon  men  who  proved  unworthy  of  them. 


298  PROGRESS   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

The  men  of  both  parties  hailed  the  dawn  of  the  French 
Revolution ;  and  the  Democrats  continued  to  sympathize 
with  the  French  republicans  after  the  sympathy  of  their 
opponents  was  withdrawn.  But  were  the  Democrats 
responsible  for  the  atrocities  of  the  French  ?  Come  to 
a  more  modern  example.  If  the  Democrats  preferred 
the,  accumulation  of  power  in  the  state  governments, 
they  were  not  responsible  for  nullification,  which  at 
tempted  to  exalt  the  states  on  the  ruins  of  the  nation. 
They  contemplated  no  such  result.  They  stopped  far 
short  of  such  doctrine. 

(5.)  Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  such  party  discus 
sions  were  useless,  and  altogether  injurious.  They 
served  their  purpose  in  the  developement  of  our  repub 
lican  system,  and  demonstrated  that  democracy  on  an 
extended  scale  is  practicable  in  these  United  States. 
The  friends  of  legitimacy  may  say  that  such  party  re 
crimination  is  a  very  great  evil,  and  they  may  praise  the 
simplicity  and  tranquillity  of  monarchies  and  despotisms. 
But  the  bloodless  warfare  of  the  Federalists  and  Demo 
crats  was  a  small  evil  when  compared  with  the  contem 
porary  military  conflicts  which,  originating  in  monarchy, 
cut  deep  into  the  vitals  of  Europe.  Simplicity  in  go 
vernment  is  very  desirable ;  but  the  political  machine 
may  be  too  simple.  It  may  consist  of  a  single  head, 
who  is  legislator,  judge,  and  executive,  and  whose  single 
will  determines  the  measures  of  his  government.  But 
such  simplicity,  and  the  various  grades  of  approximation 
to  it,  are  sorer  evils  than  that  party  discussion  which 
arises  where  freemen  ordain  and  administer  their  own 
government.  And  in  regard  to  tranquillity,  there  is  a 
tranquillity  of  death  and  legitimacy ;  but  where  is  the 
tranquillity  of  life  and  liberty  ?  The  blood  circulates  in 
the  animal,  and  the  juices  in  the  plant ;  their  action  ac- 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  299 

companies  and  perpetuates  life ;  when  they  cease  to 
move,  the  material  organization  is  dissolved.  There  is, 
in  like  manner,  an  unceasing  activity  which  accom 
panies  and  perpetuates  liberty  in  political  affairs,  and  of 
which  party  movements  are  one  of  the  manifestations. 
We  are,  therefore,  disposed  to  conclude,  that  the  dis 
cussions  between  the  Federalists  and  Democrats,  though 
often  violent  and  blameworthy,  were  in  the  main  bene 
ficial. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  defending  or 
encouraging  the  spirit  of  partyism.  The  farewell  ad 
dress  of  the  Father  of  his  Country  on  this  point  speaks 
a  language  to  which  every  American  heart  must  respond 
Amen.  All  that  we  desire  to  assert  is,  that  the  activity 
and  partyism  of  free  government  is  more  desirable  to  an 
intelligent  and  virtuous  people  than  the  death-like  tran 
quillity  which  rests  upon  the  tomb  of  liberty. 

We  have  no\v  reviewed  the  principles  and  the  mea 
sures  of  the  men  who  put  in  motion  the  wheels  of  our 
government.  Their  loves  and  their  hates  were  honest 
in  their  origin ;  their  battles  were  bloodless ;  and  they 
gave  to  the  world  a  living,  practical  proof,  that  a  repub 
lican  system  can  be  maintained,  and  is  adapted  to  the 
nature,  temper,  virtue,  intelligence,  and  progressive  de- 
velopement  of  the  American  people. 

These  parties  have,  however,  fulfilled  their  mission. 
They  have  finished  their  pilgrimage,  and  have  been 
gathered  to  «  the  house  appointed  for  all  living."  When 
the  peace  of  1815  restored  tranquillity  to  the  world,  the 
violence  of  partyism  ceased  in  the  United  States.  That 
peace  terminated  the  strife  between  France  and  Great 
Britain,  and  consequently  put  an  end  to  the  disputes 
about  our  intercourse  with  those  nations.  This  cause 
of  party  recrimination  consequently  ceased  to  act,  and 


300  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

the  parties  were  left  without  the  food  upon  which  they 
had  grown  strong.  Their  position  and  relative  strength 
were  also  much  affected  by  the  general  change  which 
had  taken  place  in  the  condition  of  the  civilized  world, 
and  also  by  the  conduct  of  the  Federalists  and  Demo 
crats  in  the  closing  scenes  of  the  universal  hubbub  of 
Europe.  The  opposition  of  the  Federalists  to  the  war 
of  1812  diminished  that  party,  and  increased  the  number 
of  the  Democrats.  The  domestic  policy  of  the  country 
had  also,  by  the  year  1815,  become  pretty  well  settled. 
The  bank  had  become  a  democratic  measure,  the  public 
debt  no  longer  interested  the  new  actors,  who  were  creeping 
from  the  cradle  to  the  public  stage,  and  the  Democrats 
now  in  power  had  ceased  their  opposition  to  a  strong 
national  government.  There  was  consequently  a  disso 
lution  of  parties.  The  objects  for  which  they  had  con 
tended  no  longer  existed.  The  domestic  policy  was 
pretty  well  settled,  and  the  foreign  relations  were  no 
longer  exciting. 

At  the  inauguration  of  President  Monroe  there  was  a 
general  wish  to  administer  the  government  by  the  best 
men  that  could  be  found,  without  regard  to  their  former 
connexions  with  Federalists  and  Democrats.  This  era 
of  "  good  feeling"  marked  an  important  point  in  our 
domestic  history  ;  for  it  was  the  point  of  time  when  our 
republican  system  ceased  to  be  an  experiment,  and 
became  firmly  established.  During  the  eight  years  of 
President  Monroe's  administration,  the  measures  which 
had  formerly  been  the  subjects  of  party  agitation  were 
seldom  drawn  into  discussion.  At  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  office,  in  1824,  the  election  of  president  turned 
upon  considerations  rather  personal  than  political.  The 
candidates,  Clay,  and  Crawford,  and  Adams,  and 
Jackson,  each  had  their  personal  friends;  and  individual 


FEDERALISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS.  301 

preferences,  combined  with  accidental  connexions,  di 
vided  the  popular  vote  among  them. 

From  the  election  of  Mr.  Adams  to  the  present  time, 
other  parties  have  been  formed,  and  now  exist ;  but  of 
the  groundwork  of  their  division,  and  measures  of  po 
licy,  it  becomes  us  not  now  to  speak.  Their  lights  and 
shadows  will  be  better  observed  by  looking  back  upon 
them  from  the  eminence  of  future  time.  Suffice  it  to 
say  that  the  new  parties,  like  the  old,  are  altogether 
American;  stand  on  the  common  platform  of  republi 
canism,  and  fire  a  common  artillery  upon  the  diminishing 
ranks  of  legitimacy. 

If  we  take  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  two  old 
parties,  the  Federalists  and  Democrats,  in  their  origin 
and  history,  we  find  that  the  men  who  composed  them, 
originated  as  well  as  re-echoed  the  common  cry  for  li 
berty  which  arose  from  the  whole  Caucasian  race.  From 
"  the  isles  of  Greece"  to  the  pine  forests  of  Norway,  from 
the  rivers  of  Russia  to  the  muddy  waters  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  a  kindred  desire  swelled  the  human  breast.  The 
white  race  demanded  political  liberty.  In  our  own 
country,  away  from  the  monarchical  institutions  of  Eu 
rope,  this  reasonable  demand  received  the  approbation 
of  all  men.  But  here,  as  in  all  the  doings  of  man  and 
nature,  diversity  still  appeared.  The  Federalists  thought 
their  political  scheme  the  one  which  in  our  own  country 
could  combine  freedom  with  good  government.  The 
Democrats  thought  that,  in  this  western  world,  men 
might  trust  themselves  with  a  more  liberal  constitution 
of  government. 

When  the  terrible  heavings  and  lashings  of  the  ele 
ments  of  nations  subsided,  in  A.  D.  1815,  all  men  in 
America  felt  a  higher  reverence  for  their  democratic  con 
stitution,  which  had  ridden  upon  the  waves,  and  lived 


302  PROGRESS   OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

through  the  tempest,  the  hail,  and  the  lightning,  which 
had  desolated  the  civilized  world. 

May  that  same  constitution  never  find  worse  enemies 
than  the  old  Federalists  and  Democrats.  Good  old-fa 
shioned  patriots !  You  wore  your  knee-buckles  and 
wigs  ;  sometimes  you  quarrelled  with  each  other,  and 
sometimes  you  passed  each  other  without  touching  those 
high-crowned  hats.  But  you  all  loved  your  country  ; 
and  all  had  hearts  and  souls  that  gladdened  with  joy 
when  your  eyes  rested  on  the  star-spangled  banner,  and 
your  ears  drank  in  the  music  of  revolutionary  Yankee 
Doodle. 


LECTURE  IX. 
THE  WAR  OF  1812. 

Governments  have  external  as  well  as  internal  duties  to  perform — 
Evidences  of  the  ability  of  our  republic  to  manage  its  external 
affairs — This  ability  manifested  in  the  causes,  events,  and  circum 
stances  of  the  war  of  1812 — I.  Causes  of  the  war:  (1)  Aggressions 
of  Great  Britain  upon  the  commerce  of  the  United  States — Orders 
in  council — Berlin  and  Milan  decrees — Paper  blockades — Injuries 
to  American  commerce — Defensive  measures — Embargo — Its  ope 
ration — Non-Intercourse — Continental  system  of  Napoleon — Mari 
time  system  of  England  —  Effect  of  these  aggressions  upon  the 
American  people  ;  (2)  Right  of  search,  and  impressment  —  This 
right  not  claimed  against  national  armed  vessels — Admission  of  the 
right  to  search  neutral  vessels  for. contraband  goods,  for  enemy's 
property,  and  for  men  in  the  land  and  naval  service — The  right  to 
search  for  sailors  and  seamen  denied  by  the  United  States  —  Evils 
of  the  system  as  practised  by  Great  Britain ;  (3)  Instigation  of  the 
Northwest  Indians  against  the  United,  States — Attempts  to  disturb 
the  Union — These  evils  result  in  the  war  of  1812 — II.  General  course 
of  events  of  the  war :  (1)  The  military  part — Conducted  all  round 
the  country — Results  on  the  northwest — On  the  north — Along  the 
Atlantic  coast — On  the  southwest;  (2)  The  naval  part — Unexpected 
success  of  the  navy — Moral  power  of  this  success — Preponderance 
of  naval  triumphs  in  favour  of  the  United  States — III.  Sources  of 
the  naval  triumphs  of  the  Americans — IV.  The  army  less  successful 
than  the  navy — Causes  of  its  frequent  failures — V.  Adverse  circum 
stances  in  which  the  war  was  conducted  —  Some  were  accidental, 
others  belong  to  the  form  of  our  government — Of  the  accidental 
embarrassments,  the  greatest  was  the  condition  of  the  navy — Of  the 
embarrassments  springing  from  our  form  of  government,  the  greatest 
was  the  party  opposition — Cause  of  this  opposition — Addresses — 
Conventions  —  Legislative  resolutions  —  Hartford  Convention  —  Ef 
fects  of  the  opposition — VI.  Changes  in  Europe  prepare  the  way  for 
peace  —  Treaty  of  Ghent — Results  —  Our  republican  system  can 
bring  the  force  of  the  nation  to  the  defence  of  its  rights. 


304  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

IN  the  analysis  of  the  principles  and  measures  of  the 
Federalists  and  Democrats,  we  have  given  you  a  view 
of  one  practical  developement  of  our  republican  system. 
In  the  exhibition  of  the  rise  and  decline  of  those  old 
parties,  we  directed  your  attention  to  the  internal  opera 
tion  of  our  government :  to  many  of  the  passions,  and  a 
few  of  the  virtues  which  its  management  called  into  action. 

But  a  government  has  other  cares  beside  those  which 
arise  from  writhin.  There  are  external  relations  springing 
from  commerce,  and  from  views  of  profit,  pleasure, 
science,  and  other  motives  which  demand  the  exercise 
of  its  wisdom.  The  Divine  Being,  who  "  made  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men,"  created  them  with  such  de 
sires,  and  made  such  a  dispersion  of  the  fruits  of  the 
earth,  and  of  the  gems,  and  gold,  and  riches  of  nature, 
that  distant  people  mingle  with  each  other  in  their  search 
for  the  luxuries  and  comforts  of  life.  The  frigid  north 
seeks  the  exuberant  regions  of  the  tropics,  the  east  visits 
the  west,  and  the  west  the  east.  From  this  intercourse 
there  arise  foreign  relations  and  connexions,  and  sym 
pathies,  and  jealousies,  and  collisions  of  various  kinds; 
nations  are  brought  into  contact  with  nations,  and  go 
vernments  come  to  have  duties  to  perform  to  each  other. 
If  a  republic  be  the  most  desirable  form  of  government, 
it  should  be  able  to  do  its  share  of  these  duties  ;  it  should 
be  competent  to  do  justice  to  other  nations,  and  to  exact 
justice  from  them  in  all  that  concerns  its  citizens  and 
itself. 

How  has  our  republic  succeeded  in  maintaining  this 
desirable  character  in  its  intercourse  with  the  rest  of  the 
world  ?  Has  it  at  all  times  done  to  others  what  justice 
required,  and  received  from  others  what  justice  wrould 
have  given  ?  Has  it  been  able  to  observe  this  golden 
rule  of  national  conduct  ?  « 


THE    WAR    OF    1812.  305 

To  answer  such  questions,  and  also  to  exhibit  the 
progress  of  our  republic,  and  its  ability  to  maintain  a 
proper  position  among  other  governments,  \ve  would 
have  to  examine  its  conduct  when  brought  into  the  pre 
sence  of  other  nations.  Such  an  examination  would 
require  an  analysis  of  our  foreign  relations  at  different 
points  of  our  history  from  the  peace  of  independence 
to  the  present  negotiations  concerning  Oregon.  But 
instead  of  such  an  extensive  investigation,  let  us  attempt 
to  arrive  at  the  same  result  by  a  shorter  process.  Let 
us  take  a  single  prominent  event  in  our  history — the  war 
of  A.  D.  1812 — and  examine  in  what  manner  our  re 
public  acquitted  itself  when  brought  into  collision  with 
its  ancient  friend  and  foe,  Great  Britain.  We  select  this 
episode,  or,  if  you  please,  this  act  in  the  drama  of  our 
history,  because  it  exhibits  many  facts  of  interest  re 
specting  our  republican  system,  and  was  a  manifestation 
of  the  strength  and  weakness  of  our  government  in  the 
defence  of  its  national  rights.  It  revealed  the  force 
with  which  our  republic  can  defend  itself;  it  brought 
youth  and  age  together;  it  brought  the  young  demo 
cracy  of  America  into  contact  with  the  oldest  and  most 
powerful  government  of  Europe.  It  demonstrated  one 
great  truth — it  showed  that  under  our  republican  system 
the  force  of  the  country  can  be  rallied  in  defence  of  the 
nation's  rights  and  of  the  nation's  honour. 

It  would  be  idle  for  us  here  to  attempt  a  definition 
of  a  good  political  system.  We  have,  in  all  that  has 
hitherto  been  said,  represented  democracy — the  govern 
ment  of  the  governed  —  as  the  best  system  —  the  best 
adapted  to  develope  the  powers  and  capacities  of  our 
nature,  at  least  of  Anglo-Saxon  nature,  both  intellect 
ually  and  morally,  and,  if  you  choose,  politically.  It  is 
a  part  of  man's  moral  discipline  to  take  care  of  himself. 
2c* 


306  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Popular  government  disciplines,  developes,  and  brings 
out  in  bold  relief  many  of  the  highest  qualities  of  our  na 
ture.  Children  are  governed ;  men  govern  themselves — 
sometimes.  But  if  popular  government — if  democracy — 
be  a  desirable  political  system,  it  ought  to  be  efficient 
not  only  in  preserving  tranquillity  internally,  but  in  pro 
tecting  itself  externally.  How  has  our  republic  suc 
ceeded  in  regard  to  external  protection  ?  Has  it  been 
efficient  there  ?  Has  it  acted,  and  is  it  capable  of  acting 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  cause  other  governments  to  re 
spect  its  national  rights  ?  The  war  of  1812  was  a  trial ; 
an  exhibition  of  its  power  in  regard  to  protection  against 
injustice  from  without.  How  did  it  succeed  ?  Let  us  see. 
We  must  remember,  however,  that  the  war  of  1812 
was  not  the  first  exhibition  of  the  belligerent  or  pug 
nacious  powers  of  our  republic.  In  the  administration 
of  Washington,  it  had  been  compelled  to  send  the 
several  expeditions  of  Harmar,  St.  Clair,  and  Wayne, 
against  the  Indians  in  the  west.  Those  fierce  aboriginal 
warriors,  it  was  found,  were  not  to  be  tamed  by  any 
influence  possessed  by  our  government  except  by  the 
influence  of  soldiers.  They  had  been  marshalled,  under 
British  direction,  against  the  United  States  in  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  and  after  it  ceased  they  still  continued 
hostilities.  The  power  of  the  government  was  finally 
exerted  to  reduce  them  to  submission ;  a  result  which 
was  accomplished  with  considerable  difficulty.  Again, 
in  the  administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  Barbary 
Powers  in  the  Mediterranean  committed  numerous  de 
predations  upon  the  American  commerce,  and  for  several 
years  were  in  open  hostilities  with  our  country.  In  this 
contest  the  little  navy  of  the  United  States  was  brought 
into  active  employment,  and  furnished  the  means  of  as 
serting  the  rights  of  our  republic.  This  was  a  com- 


THE   WAR   OF   1812.  307 

mercial  war,  which  was  waged  for  the  protection  of  our 
lawful  trade,  and  waged  against  a  people  who  had  ex 
acted  tribute  from  the  most  powerful  nations  of  Europe, 
as  the  price  of  peace.  The  Americans  finally  succeeded 
in  forcing  them  to  terms ;  and  a  peace  was  concluded 
which  gave  security  to  our  commerce  in  the  Mediter 
ranean. 

But  it  was  not  only  against  Indians  and  barbarians 
that  the  United  States  were  compelled  to  defend  their 
just  rights.  They  were  assailed  by  more  powerful  na 
tions.  A  series  of  injuries  were  inflicted  by  Great  Bri 
tain,  which,  after  long  forbearance,  produced  the  war  of 
1812.  Let  us  examine  a  little  in  detail  its  causes,  its 
prominent  events,  and  its  results,  and  we  will  be  able 
more  properly  to  estimate  the  exhibition  which  it  made 
of  the  ability  of  our  republic  to  maintain  its  rights  and 
its  honour  against  aggressions  from  other  nations. 

I.  What  were  the  causes  of  the  war  of  1812  ?  Here 
we  must  refer  to  an  idea  which  we  presented  when 
treating  of  the  Revolution  ;  viz.,  that  the  causes  of  events 
affecting  the  welfare  of  nations  generally  operate  through 
a  long  tract  of  time.  In  a  monarchy,  indeed,  a  lap-dog, 
or  a  bottle  of  wine,  may  be  the  occasion  of  war  or  peace  ; 
but  where  important  results  are  brought  about  by  the 
conduct  of  large  masses  of  men,  there  is  usually  a  long 
space  of  time  required.  Contention  between  nations 
often  commences  like  the  little  cloud  which  is  no  larger 
than  a  man's  hand,  but  which,  in  time,  spreads  over  the 
heavens,  darkens  the  horizon,  and  finally  the  thunder, 
the  lightning,  and  the  rain  discharge  the  gathering 
blackness.  The  causes  of  the  war  of  1812  were  of  that 
class  which  require  time.  They  began  to  act  almost 
simultaneously  with  the  organization  of  our  government. 


308  PROGRESS    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

and  continued  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  before 
they  produced  their  legitimate  fruits. 

(1.)  The  first  of  these  causes  which  we  will  mention 
is  to  be  found  in  the  aggressions  which  Great  Britain 
made  upon  our  commerce.  The  Revolution,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  was  in  a  great  measure  produced  by  the 
commercial  restrictions  which  England  attempted  to  im 
pose  upon  the  colonies.  But  the  liberation  of  our 
country  did  not  deliver  us  from  the  evils  arising  from 
this  source.  After  the  Revolution  was  completed  by  the 
organization  of  our  government,  complaints,  also  origi 
nating  in  commercial  injuries,  were  again  heard  all  along 
the  sea-coast  of  the  United  States,  and  were  continued 
almost  without  interruption  during  the  administrations  of 
Washington,  Adams,  Jefferson,  and  the  first  term  of  Ma 
dison.  These  commercial  injuries  were,  for  the  most 
part,  connected  with  the  wars  of  the  French  revolution — 
wars  which,  for  more  than  twenty  years,  desolated  Eu 
rope,  and  in  which  England  and  France  were  the  leading 
hostile  powers. 

The  United  States,  from  the  very  foundation  of  their 
government,  steadily  acted  on  the  policy  of  remaining 
neutral  in  regard  to  the  affairs  of  Europe.  Their  dis 
tance — their  geographical  position — away  from  the  pre 
sence  of  the  nations  of  the  old  world,  rendered  this 
neutral  policy  practicable,  while  their  political  youth 
rendered  it  exceedingly  desirable.  It  was  evident  to  the 
revolutionary  fathers — those  meek  old  men — that  if  the 
newly  formed  republic  should  launch  upon  the  troubled 
ocean  of  European  interests,  passions,  and  prejudices,  it 
would  run  the  hazard  of  shipwreck.  Hence  they  adopted 
the  principle  of  «  total  abstinence"  from  all  the  quarrels 
of  the  European  nations,  and  resolved  to  form  "  entan 
gling  alliances"  with  none  of  them.  This  was  the  creed 


THE   WAR    OF    1812.  309 

of  Washington,  in  obedience  to  which  he  resisted  all  the 
intrigues  of  the  French,  and  refused  to  take  part  with 
that  republic  in  the  hostilities  of  Europe.  His  "  Farewell 
Address"  teems  with  paternal  advice  upon  this  subject. 
His  successors,  Adams  and  Jefferson  and  Madison,  all 
entertained  the  same  opinion,  and  all  coincided  with 
him,  that  the  true  interests  of  our  republic  required  us  to 
keep  aloof  from  the  contentions  of  Europe.  But,  when 
France  and  England  engaged  in  the  mortal  strife,  it 
became  apparent  that  the  principle  and  practice  of  neu 
trality  would  subject,  and  did  subject,  the  United  States 
to  many  sore  evils.  Among  the  first  of  these  evils  were 
the  British  regulations  which  forbade  the  United  States 
to  carry__grain  or  other  provisions  into  France.  In  the 
military  madness  which  seized  upon  the  French  people, 
agriculture  was  greatly  neglected,  and  the  United  States 
found  a  profitable  business  in  supplying  them  with  pro 
visions.  England,  however,  knowing  that  soldiers  do 
not  fight  well  before  breakfast,  conceived  that  starvation 
would  be  an  effectual  means  of  cooling  the  heroism  of  a 
Frenchman ;  she  therefore  declared  provisions  contra 
band  of  war,  and  consequently  cut  off  the  United  States 
from  carrying  this  great  item  of  American  commerce  to 
the  French  market.  This  restriction,  though  burdensome, 
could  not  be  called  new  ;  for,  in  the  practice  of  former 
times,  provisions  had  been  occasionally  declared  contra 
band,  especially  where  their  introduction  would  furnish 
an  enemy  with  resources  for  prolonging  a  war.  But 
notwithstanding  this  occasional  prohibition,  the  English 
regulations  forbidding  their  introduction  into  France 
produced  great  dissatisfaction  in  the  United  States — a 
feeling  which  was  not  diminished  by  the  capture  of  a 
few  American  vessels  for  attempting,  as  it  was  alleged, 


310  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

to  enter  French  ports  contrary  to  the  rule  prescribed  by 
England. 

One  of  the  main  objects  of  Mr.  Jay's  mission  to  Eng 
land,  when  he  negotiated  his  celebrated  treaty,  was  to 
procure  a  relaxation  of  this  rule.  But  he  failed  in  the 
attempt ;  and  provisions  remained  a  forbidden  article  of 
import  into  France. 

This  was  the  commencement  of  those  commercial 
restrictions  which,  during  the  European  war,  were  im 
posed  by  the  belligerent  nations  upon  the  neutral  com 
merce  of  the  United  States.  It  laid  the  foundation  of 
that  deep-rooted  aversion  to  England  which  was  more 
particularly  exhibited  by  the  democratic  party,  and 
which  continued  to  increase  as  other  acts  of  irritation 
were  added  by  the  British  government. 

But  the  restriction  upon  provisions  was  not  the  only  fo 
reign  regulation  which  injuriously  affected  our  commerce. 
By  the  time  that  Napoleon  became  firmly  seated  on  the 
French  throne,  the  hostilities  between  France  and  England 
had  grown  to  a  ripeness  and  bitterness  which  diffused 
grievous  evils  over  the  rest  of  the  world.  In  the  earlier 
days  of  their  struggle,  their  commerce,  both  between  each 
other  and  their  colonies,  was  carried  on  principally  in 
American  ships  and  by  American  merchants.  The  New 
Englander  carried  French  merchandise  from  France  to  the 
rest  of  the  world,  and  British  merchandise  from  England  to 
French  ports.  In  brief,  the  United  States  monopolized 
the  carrying-trade  of  Europe.  While  our  seamen  were 
reaping  this  golden  harvest,  the  sky  became  gradually 
overcast.  The  hostile  spirit  of  the  two  great  belligerents 
began  to  extend  itself  in  a  new  and  extraordinary  manner. 
Thebattle  of  Trafalgar,  in  1806,  had  almost  annihilated  the 
naval  power  of  France  ;  and  Great  Britain  being  left  the 
mistress  of  the  ocean,  those  two  nations  entered  upon 


THE   WAR   OF   1812.  311 

a  singular  system  of  warfare — a  warfare  which  extended 
itself  to  all  the  traffic  of  the  world,  and  involved  in  the 
general  conflagration  every  neutral  nation  engaged  in 
commerce.  To  humble  England,  Napoleon  commenced 
his  continental  system,  which  had  for  its  object  the  ex 
clusion  of  British  commerce  from  the  continent  of 
Europe,  and  by  which  he  aimed  a  blow  at  the  vital  point 
of  his  adversaries'  power  and  wealth.  On  the  contrary, 
England  commenced  a  maritime  system,  which  had  for 
its  object  the  total  destruction  of  all  commerce  with 
France,  of  every  kind  and  description.  These  two  systems 
had  now  in  fact  become  the  only  means  by  which  the 
one  nation  could  annoy  the  other.  For  England  ruled 
all  on  the  ocean,  and  France  all  on  the  continent ;  on 
its  own  element  each  seemed  unconquerable,  and  neither 
could  approach  the  other. 

The  first  movement  in  this  new  warfare  was  the  an 
nouncement  from  Great  Britain,  in  A.  D.  1806,  that  she 
prohibited  neutrals  from  all  trade  with  her  enemies  in 
time  of  war  which  they  had  not  enjoyed  in  time  of  peace. 
The  immediate  effect  of  this  regulation  was  to  cut  off  the 
United  States  from  trading  between  one  port  and  another 
of  France  or  her  allies,  and  also  between  France  and 
her  colonies — such  domestic  commerce  not  being  usually 
allowed  to  a  neutral  in  time  of  peace. 

Soon  after  this,  Great  Britain  made  a  still  more 
stringent  regulation,  and  by  orders  in  council  prohibited 
neutrals  from  entering  any  port  from  Brest  to  Hamburg. 
This  cut  off  the  United  States  from  the  northern  French 
trade.  Napoleon,  who  was  then  crushing  Prussia  to  the 
dust,  and  had  carried  his  arms  to  its  capital,  Berlin,  re 
taliated  these  commercial  measures  by  declaring  the 
British  islands  in  a  state  of  blockade.  This  declaration, 
called  the  Berlin  decree,  prohibited  all  neutral  ships, 


312  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

under  penalty  of  confiscation,  from  entering  a  British 
port  without  a  certificate  of  permission  from  French 
authorities.  The  effect  of  this  regulation,  if  Napoleon 
had  possessed  ships  to  enforce  it,  would  have  been  to 
exclude  the  United  States  from  English  ports  except 
by  permission  of  France.  In  retaliation  of  the  Berlin 
decree,  Great  Britain  issued  other  orders  in  council,  by 
which  the  whole  coast  of  France,  and  all  the  French 
ports,  were  declared  in  a  state  of  blockade.  The  United 
States,  consequently,  were  prohibited  from  entering  any 
French  port  without  the  permission  of  Great  Britain. 
The  same  orders  directed  neutrals,  under  penalty  of  con 
fiscation,  to  enter  a  British  port,  pay  a  duty  there,  and 
sail  with  British  papers.  This  last  regulation  would,  if 
carried  into  effect,  render  England  the  centre  of  all  the 
trade  of  the  world ;  for,  under  it,  an  American  ship  could 
not  go  to  the  West  Indies  without  crossing  the  Atlantic 
to  get  permission  ;  and  when  it  arrived  in  the  West  In 
dies  it  would  again  have  to  go  to  England  for  permission 
to  return  to  the  United  States.  Such  a  detour — such  a 
travelling  round  Robin  Hood's  barn  to  the  tune  of  "  God 

O 

save  the  king,"  was  rather  an  imposition  on  the  good 
nature  of  an  American  citizen.  But  this  was  not  all. 
He  had  to  pay  a  heavy  duty  for  the  privilege  of  touching 
at  the  British  port. 

These  orders  in  council  were  immediately  followed 
by  the  Milan  decree,  on  the  part  of  Napoleon.  This 
decree,  bearing  the  name  of  the  place  where  it  was 
dated,  prohibited  all  trade  whatever  with  Great  Britain ; 
declared  that  a  vessel  making  a  voyage  to  England 
should  be  lawful  prize  ;  and  that  a  merchant-ship  which 
submitted  to  be  searched  by  an  English  ship,  or  entered 
an  English  port,  was  denationalized,  outlawed,  and 
might  be  seized  by  French  cruisers  wherever  found. 


THE   WAR   OF    1812.  313 

By  these  decrees  and  orders  the  commerce  of  the 
United  States  became  the  sport  of  these  two  nations. 
If  American  merchants  attempted  to  trade  to  France 
the  English  cruisers  caught  them,  and  if  they  attempted 
to  trade  to  England  they  were  violating  the  decrees  of 
Napoleon.  If  they  obtained  from  France  permission  to 
trade  to  England,  these  French  papers  contaminated  the 
ship  and  cargo,  and  the  whole  was  forfeited.  If  they 
obtained  from  Britain  permission  to  trade  to  French 
ports,  this  fact  condemned  them  under  the  Berlin  and 
Milan  decrees.  The  United  States  were  thus  hawked  at 
from  England,  and  buzzarded  at  from  France,  and  their 
commerce  was  cut  to  pieces ;  for  it  was  plainly  impos 
sible  to  comply  with  such  conflicting  and  destructive  re 
quisitions. 

We  had  much  cause  to  complain  of  France  as  well 
as  of  Great  Britain ;  but  the  latter,  having  the  superiority 
at  sea,  was  able  to  do  us  most  harm.  Having  prohibited 
us  from  entering  a  French  port,  the  prohibition  excluded 
us  from  nearly  the  whole  continent  of  Europe  ;  for  almost 
.  every  corner  of  the  continent  was,  in  those  times,  under 
the  authority  of  the  French. 

In  the  execution  of  her  orders  in  council,  there  was 
a  practical  and  unmitigated  evil  which  bore  heavily  on 
the  United  States.  Great  Britain  began  to  capture  Ame 
rican  ships  if  they  attempted  to  enter  a  French  port. 
By-and-by  she  began  to  take  them  anywhere  upon  the 
ocean  if  they  were  destined  to  a  port  which  she  had  de 
clared  in  a  state  of  blockade,  even  though  the  owners 
of  the  vessels  and  the  government  of  the  United  States 
itself  might  be  ignorant  of  the  pretended  blockade. 
By-and-by  other  orders  in  council  made  a  paper  blockade 
of  the  whole  world.  She  then  seized  our  ships  wherever 
they  were  to  be  found — even  on  our  own  coasts — and 

2D 


314  PROGRESS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

compelled  all  our  commerce  to  be  carried  through  her 
ports,  and  according  to  her  directions. 

What  did  the  United  States  oppose  to  all  these  orders, 
decrees,  and  pretensions  ?  Did  their  old  jurists  put  on 
their  spectacles  and  read  to  England  a  chapter  from  the 
law  of  nations  ?  The  law  of  nations  had  become  a 
nullity  in  the  unnatural  strife.  Did  they  attempt  to  prove 
by  learned  argument  that  a  blockade  must  be  maintained 
by  a  suitable  force  of  ships  before  the  blockaded  port  ? 
That  was  old,  worn-out,  superannuated  law,  and  not  the 
law  which  governed  England  and  France  in  their  struggle 
to  ruin  each  other.  Failing  to  make  an  impression  by 
reading  chapters  from  the  law  of  nations,  or  by  arguing 
and  remonstrating,  our  government  had  recourse  to 
more  effective  defensive  measures.  In  1807  it  laid  an 
embargo — prohibited  our  ships  from  leaving  our  ports — 
called  home  those  that  were  abroad,  and  annihilated  our 
commerce  to  save  it  from  Great  Britain  and  France. 
Our  ships,  if  they  ventured  out  at  all,  crept  along  the 
coast  from  one  port  to  another. 

How  did  the  embargo  operate  ?  In  regard  to  the 
United  States,  it  cut  them  off  from  the  few  remaining 
markets  which  had  not  been  closed  by  British  orders  and 
French  decrees ;  it  bore  heavily  on  the  agricultural  in 
terests  of  the  country  by  destroying  the  exportation  of 
grain  ;  it  was  ruinous  to  merchants  and  ship-owners ;  it 
benefited  the  manufacturers  by  excluding  all  foreign  mer 
chandise  ;  but  it  preserved  a  great  amount  of  floating 
property  by  withdrawing  it  from  the  grasp  of  English  and 
French  pirates.  In  regard  to  France  and  England,  its 
operation  was  severe  ;  but  not  sufficiently  severe  to  pro 
cure  a  redress  of  the  grievances.  It  was  indeed  in 
tended  as  a  method  of  retaliation  as  well  as  of  self-de 
fence  ;  but  Great  Britain  having  the  mastery  of  the  ocean, 


THE    WAR   OF    1812.  315 

found  a  compensation  for  the  loss  of  our  commerce. 
For,  from  the  East  Indies,  from  Egypt,  from  South 
America,  from  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  from  the  Baltic, 
she  obtained  cotton,  tobacco,  and  grain,  though  some 
of  them  were  at  increased  prices.  These  resources  freed 
her  in  a  great  measure  from  the  pressure  of  the  embargo. 
The  hope  of  our  government  was  that  it  wrould  induce 
those  two  belligerents  to  cease  their  injuries  to  our  com 
merce  ;  but  this  hope  was  not  realized.  The  peculiar 
organization  of  our  republic,  and  the  temper  of  the  peo 
ple,  were  also  unfavourable  to  such  a  result.  In  New 
England  the  embargo  was  exceedingly  unpopular,  and 
strenuously  resisted  by  the  party  opposed  to  the  admi 
nistration.  It  certainly  pressed  with  great  severity.  All 
parties  in  our  country  began  to  think  open  war  prefer 
able  to  such  a  restrictive  system ;  and  in  A.  D.  1809,  it 
was  repealed,  and  a  system  of  non-intercourse  with 
France  and  Great  Britain  adopted.  Earnest  but  un 
availing  efforts  were  at  the  same  time  made  by  our  go 
vernment  to  procure  a  modification  of  the  French  and 
English  decrees  and  orders.  Napoleon  had  announced 
that  his  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  were  to  be  repealed 
whenever  the  British  orders  in  council  were  recalled ; 
and  was  desirous  to  repeal  them  especially  in  respect  to 
the  United  States,  provided  England. would  also  make  a 
-similar  exception  in  our  favour.  But  all  the  attempts  of 
the  United  States  in  the  matter  failed.  Under  one  pre 
text  and  another,  Great  Britain  refused  to  repeal  or  mo 
dify  her  orders  in  council ;  and  other  subjects  of  irrita 
tion  between  the  two  governments  continued  to  increase. 
Under  these  commercial  annoyances,  the  United 
States  moved  on  from  1807  to  1812,  and  suffered,  du 
ring  these  five  years,  the  injuries  which  naturally  flowed 
from  this  oppressive  system.  Their  ports  and  harbours 


316  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

\vere  watched  by  British  ships ;  their  commerce  inter 
cepted,  and  their  seamen  seized.  The  blockade  of 
almost  the  whole  world  rendered  the  ships  from  the 
United  States  lawful  prize.  England,  indeed,  seemed  to 
be  aiming  at  a  monopoly  of  the  commerce  of  all  nations. 
This  was  in  fact  the  very  point  to  which  was  directed 
the  main  power  of  the  contest  between  her  and  France ; 
and  while  the  latter  was  systematically  at  work  to  break 
down  the  maritime  superiority  of  England,  she  herself 
was  labouring  to  extend  it  over  all  the  world,  and  de 
vising  means  to  gather  from  every  ocean  and  sea  new 
commercial  energy.  Nor  did  there  appear  any  prospect 
of  bringing  these  oppressions  to  an  end.  Napoleon  and 
his  continental  system  seemed  all-powerful  on  land,  and 
England  and  her  maritime  system  all-powerful  on  the 
ocean.  Each  nation  was  victorious  on  its  proper  ele 
ment  ;  neither  could  attack  the  other  except  by  paper 
blockades,  and  through  the  mutual  destruction  of  neutral 
commerce. 

Through  all  these  difficulties  the  United  States  were 
desirous  of  peace.  They  offered  to  the  belligerents, 
that  if  "  either  would  revoke  its  hostile  decrees,  and  the 
other  should  refuse,  we  would  forbid  all  intercourse  with 
that  other.  France  finally  accepted  the  offer.'"  Great 
Britain  refused  till  her  acquiescence  was  unheard  in  the 
tumult  of  war. 

During  the  five  years  of  these  decrees,  orders,  and 
outrages,  about  one  thousand  American  vessels  were 
seized  by  British  cruisers,  and  condemned  as  lawful 
prize — condemned  for  violating  constructive  blockades 
and  disobeying  British  orders.  There  seemed  to  be  no 
virtue  in  permitting  the  war  to  be  thus  all  upon  one  side, 

*  Jefferson's  Correspondence. 


THE    WAR    OF    1812.  317 

and  since  England  would  be  hostile  to  the  United  States, 
the  United  States  finally  resolved  that  they  too  would 
carry  on  war  with  England.  Indeed,  after  the  declara 
tion  of  war  in  1812,  they  lost  annually  fewer  merchant- 
vesssels  than  they  had  lost  before  the  war  commenced. 

But  we  will  not  pursue  this  cause  of  the  war  any 
farther.  We  have  noticed  it  somewhat  in  detail,  because 
it  exhibits  the  position  which  our  republic  held  in  the 
presence  of  two  powerful  belligerent  nations ;  and,  also, 
because  it  shows  the  points  of  exposure,  in  defence  of 
which  the  United  States  may  be  drawn  away  from  the 
position  of  neutrality,  and  become  mixed  up  in  the 
uproar  of  European  strife. 

(2.)  The  next  cause  of  the  war  was  closely  allied  to 
the  one  first  mentioned,  and  is  to  be  found  in  the  practice 
pursued  by  Great  Britain,  of  searching  the  ships  and  im 
pressing  the  sailors  and  seamen  of  the  United  States.  I 
say  that  this  cause  of  the  war  is  closely  connected  with 
the  commercial  injuries  which  have  just  been  detailed  ; 
for  it  originated  in  the  same  contest,  and  was  part  of  the 
same  system  of  means  by  which  England  sought  to  es 
tablish  her  maritime  system.  But  the  right  of  search — 
what  was  it  ?  When  did  it  begin  ?  What  was  the 
practice  under  it  ?  What  the  ground  of  opposition  to  it  ? 
On  what  was  it  founded  ?  How  came  Great  Britain  to 
demand  it  ?  How  did  it  lead  to  the  war  ?  In  answer 
to  all  such  questions  we  observe,  in  the  first  place,  that 
Great  Britain  did  not  claim  the  right  of  searching  our 
national  vessels.  Ships-of-war  have,  in  all  nations  and 
at  all  times,  been  exempt  from  the  visitation  and  search 
of  other  nations.  The  deck  of  a  man-of-war  is  to  be 
trodden  by  her  own  crew  alone,  or  by  those  who  come 
in  friendship  or  in  victory.  Great  Britain,  in  general, 
respected  this  universal  custom,  and  never  claimed  the 
2o* 


318  PROGRESS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

right  of  searching  our  national  ships.  Hence  the  enormity 
of  the  outrage,  when,  in  A.  D.  1807,  the  British  ship-of- 
war,  the  Leopard,  demanded  permission  to  take  from  our 
national  ship,  the  Chesapeake,  three  or  four  men,  on  the 
allegation  that  they  were  British  subjects.  The  refusal  to 
comply  with  the  demand  was  followed  by  the  well  known 
attack  from  the  Leopard — an  outrage  which  inflamed 
the  combustible  matter  of  our  republic — and  increased 
its  animosity  towards  Britain.  When  remonstrances 
were  made  to  England  upon  the  subject,  that  government 
in  words  expressly  disavowed  the  act,  and  even  with 
derision  disclaimed  all  pretensions  of  searching  our  na 
tional  vessels. 

But  we  may  observe,  in  the  second  place,  that  nations 
in  time  of  war  usually  claim  and  exercise  the  right  to 
search  the  merchant-vessels  of  a  neutral  nation  for  goods, 
which  are  contraband  of  war,  and  for  merchandise 
belonging  to  the  enemy.  Suppose  France  and  England 
at  war  (no  very  violent  supposition),  if  the  United  States 
be  neutral,  British  national  ships  claim  the  right  to  ex 
amine  any  American  merchant- vessel  going  to  France, 
in  order  to  ascertain  that  she  is  not  carrying  munitions 
of  war,  or  any  other  contraband  articles.  French  national 
ships  may  take  a  similar  liberty  with  a  neutral  merchant- 
vessel  going  to  Britain.  The  European  nations,  when 
at  war,  have  generally  claimed  and  exercised  this  right, 
because  it  is  the  highest  security  they  can  have  that  no 
fraud  is  practised  upon  them  by  neutrals.  A  similar 
search  has  generally  been  made,  in  time  of  war,  for  mer 
chandise  belonging  to  the  enemies  of  the  government 
whose  ships  make  the  search.  By  the  modern  rules  of 
warfare,  an  enemy's  private  property  on  land  is  respected, 
while  his  private  property  at  sea  is  seized  wherever  found. 
Thus,  when  Great  Britain  and  France  were  at  war,  mer- 


THE   WAR    OF    1812.  319 

chandise  at  sea,  belonging  to  the  subjects  of  either  go 
vernment,  was  understood  to  be  legitimate  prize  whenever 
captured.  If  such  merchandise  were  put  on  board  of  a 
neutral  vessel,  it  might  be  pursued  there,  the  neutral 
vessel  searched,  and  the  property  taken. 

The  Law  of  nations — a  phrase  which  is  employed  to 
designate  those  rules  of  national  intercourse,  which,  like 
the  rules  of  politeness,  have  grown  up  by  custom,  and 
which,  in  the  absence  of  express  regulations,  have  ac 
quired  authority  from  general  consent  and  long  practice — 
the  law  of  nations  has  usually  been  understood  to  recog 
nise  the  right  of  belligerents  to  search  neutral  vessels  for 
contraband  goods,  and  for  merchandise  belonging  to  an 
enemy.  Neutrals  have,  indeed,  sometimes  resisted  the 
exercise  of  this  right.  Russia,  Prussia,  Denmark,  and 
Sweden,  in  A.  D.  1780,  and  again  in  A.  D.  1801,  com 
bined  together,  and  endeavoured  to  establish  the  rule, 
that  "  free  ships  make  free  goods,"  by  which  they  meant 
that  the  flag  of  a  neutral  nation  should  protect  its  ships 
from  search,  and  be  a  sufficient  guarantee  that  they  car 
ried  neither  contraband  articles  nor  an  enemy's  property. 
Those  Baltic  Powers  armed  to  enforce  this  rule.  Eng 
land,  however,  regarded  it  as  an  attempt  to  change  a 
long-established  practice,  and  engraft,  by  force,  a  new 
principle  into  the  law  of  nations.  She  resisted  it,  and 
the  attempt  failed.  In  European  diplomacy,  treaty  stipu 
lations  have  sometimes  been  adopted  between  particular 
nations,  by  which  they  agreed  that,  as  between  them 
selves,  "free  ships  make  free  goods.'7  But  such  a  rule 
exists  only  by  particular  agreement,  not  by  general  or 
national  law. 

The  United  States,  in  the  early  days  of  the  republic, 
were  inclined  to  adopt  the  language  of  the  Baltic  Powers, 
and  to  contend  that  their  merchant-vessels  should  be 


320  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

exempt  from  search  for  contraband  articles  and  enemy's 
property.  But  by  Jay's  treaty  in  1794,  they  fairly  aban 
doned  this  ground.  In  that  important  international  do 
cument,  they  yielded  the  principle,  that  "  free  ships 
make  free  goods,"  and  provided  a  mode  of  redress  for 
injuries  that  might  be  committed  in  making  the  search. 
After  the  ratification  of  this  treaty,  the  people  of  the 
United  States  occasionally  expressed  a  wish  that  the  flag 
should  protect  the  ship  ;  but  practically  they  acquiesced 
in  the  rule  that  the  ships  of  nations  at  war  may  visit  and 
search  our  merchant- vessels  for  contraband  articles,  and 
for  the  property  of  an  enemy. 

Again,  the  United  States  admitted  that  their  merchant- 
vessels  might  be  searched  for  men  belonging  to  the  re 
gular  land  or  naval  force  of  the  nation  making  the  search. 

But  if  the  United  States  admitted  that  Great  Britain 
might  search  their  merchant- vessels  for  contraband  goods, 
for  enemy's  property,  and  for  men  belonging  to  her  own 
army  or  navy,  they  did  not  admit  that  a  similar  search 
should  be  made  for  British  subjects.  Here  was  the 
point  of  all  the  difficulty.  England  claimed  the  right 
to  look  for  her  subjects  on  our  merchant- vessels,  or 
wherever  else  she  could  find  them.  The  old  feudal 
doctrine  of  perpetual,  unceasing  allegiance,  here  again 
showed  its  head,  and  came  into  the  presence  of  a  young 
nation  who  never  knew  it.  The  United  States  were  en 
tirely  willing  that  England  should  have  her  sailors  and 
subjects,  but  they  were  not  willing  that  she  should  search 
for  them  in  American  merchant-vessels.  This  privilege 
might,  indeed,  have  been  granted,  or  at  least  the  practice 
might  have  been  tolerated,  had  not  Great  Britain  taken 
American  citizens  as  well  as  British  subjects.  Here  lay 
the  practical  part  of  the  evil.  An  English  ship  would 
board  an  American  vessel,  muster  the  crew,  and  carry 


THE    WAR    OF    1812.  321 

away  as  many  of  them  as  the  searching  officer  chose. 
What  was  the  redress?  A  circuitous  negotiation  be 
tween  the  two  governments,  ending  in  words  or  paper 
billets.  This  process  of  searching  and  impressing  men 
from  American  vessels  began  with  the  wars  of  the  French 
Revolution  in  A.  D.  1792,  and  continued  through  all 
the  mortal  strife  of  twenty  years  between  England  and 
France.  The  United  States  reclaimed  with  much  energy 
against  it ;  but  the  voice  of  their  protests  was  unheard 
and  ineffectual  in  the  uproar  and  convulsions  that  rocked 
Europe  on  its  foundations. 

In  A.  D.  1807,  the  British  government  went  a  step 
farther,  and  issued  its  proclamations  calling  home  all  its 
seamen  who  were  in  foreign  service,  and  warning  all  its 
native  born  subjects  that  naturalization  by  foreign  nations 
would  not  protect  them  from  the  crime  of  treason  should 
they  be  found  fighting  against  England.  It  may  readily 
be  supposed  that  such  high-sounding  pretensions  created 
much  excitement  in  the  United  States,  where  many  Bri 
tish  born  subjects  had  long  been  naturalized,  and  resided 
as  citizens  of  the  new  republic.  They  had  thought 
themselves  Americans,  but  were  suddenly  awaked  from 
their  slumbers  by  the  information  that,  according  to  the 
English  creed  of  political  perseverence,  they  had  never 
fallen  from  the  grace  of  being  Britons. 

The  manner  in  which  Great  Britain  acted  upon  these 
pretensions  speedily  created  great  discontent  in  the 
United  States.  Several  thousand  American  seamen  were 
impressed  from  our  merchant-ships,  sent  into  the  Eng 
lish  navy,  and  compelled  to  fight  the  French.  When 
the  war  of  1812  was  declared,  the  number  of  these  im 
pressed  Americans  who  were  imprisoned  for  refusing  to 
fight  against  their  country,  amounted  to  more  than  two 
thousand.  For  several  years  American  citizens  could 


322  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

not  venture  out  upon  the  ocean  without  the  probability 
of  being  kidnapped  by  British  ships ;  and,  as  an  ex 
ample  of  the  practical  operation  of  the  system,  two 
nephews  of  General  Washington,  when  returning  from 
Europe,  were  seized  for  British  subjects,  and  sent  as 
seamen  to  serve  on  board  a  man-of-war.  The  common 
language  and  common  origin  of  the  two  nations  in 
creased  the  probabilities  of  committing  such  injuries, 
even  where  great  caution  and  honest  judgment  were  ex 
ercised.  But  in  the  irritations  which  for  years  gradually 
increased  between  them,  little  care  and  less  justice  was 
exercised  by  British  officers  in  removing  seamen  from 
American  vessels.  England  seemed  desirous,  as  already 
observed,  to  establish  her  maritime  system — to  maintain 
the  empire  of  the  ocean,  and  to  monopolize  the  com 
merce  of  the  world.  To  accomplish  such  an  end,  seamen 
were  the  necessary  agents,  and  it  was  to  increase  their 
number  that  many  American  citizens  were  carried  into 
the  royal  navy. 

Negotiation  was  tried  upon  this  subject,  but  it  failed  ; 
remonstrances  were  tried,  and  they  too  failed ;  threats 
of  war  were  tried,  and  resulted  in  nothing ;  and  finally, 
\var  itself  commenced. 

(3.)  Another  cause  of  the  war  of  1812  is  found  in 
the  aggressions  made  upon  the  United  States  in  the  west 
and  northwest  by  the  Indians,  and  which  the  American 
people  believed  to  be  encouraged  and  planned  by  Bri 
tish  agents.  England  had  a  valuable  interest  in  the  fur- 
trade  on  the  northwest  of  our  country — an  interest  which 
could  be  preserved  only  by  retarding  or  preventing  the 
settlement  of  the  territories  belonging  to  the  United  States 
in  that  direction.  Hence,  from  the  commencement  of 
the  Revolution  she  had  subsidized  the  Indians  in  that 
region,  and  employed  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  promote 


THE   WAR   OF    1812.  323 

and  preserve  this  trade.  When  the  difficulties  between 
the  two  governments,  which  grew  out  of  the  commercial 
restrictions  and  the  seizure  of  American  seamen,  had 
rendered  a  war  exceedingly  probable,  these  Indians,  led 
on  by  the  renowned  Tecumseh,  began  their  depredations 
upon  the  settlements  of  the  United  States.  In  1810,  they 
exhibited  symptoms  of  decided  hostility,  and  in  1811, 
the  year  before  the  declaration  of  war,  General  Harrison 
fought  them  at  Tippecanoe.  These  hostilities  were,  at 
the  time,  believed  to  be  the  work  of  England,  and  the 
exasperation  from  this  source  made  the  western  inha 
bitants  of  the  United  States  loud  in  their  demands  for  an 
open  war  with  Great  Britain. 

Great  indignation  was  also  excited  in  the  United 
States  by  the  attempt  through  secret  agents  to  detach 
New  England  from  the  Union.  The  embargo,  as  has 
been  mentioned,  pressed  severely  on  the  northern  states ; 
and  many  who  had  lost  heavily  by  its  imposition,  began 
to  compare  the  value  of  the  Union  with  the  commercial 
evils  under  which  they  were  suffering.  Agents  from 
Canada  endeavoured  to  foment  this  discontent,  and 
promised  the  aid  of  Great  Britain  to  make  good  the  se 
paration  from  the  Union.  Their  intrigues  were,  how 
ever,  not  favoured  by  the  Yankees  ;  they  came  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  government,  and  increased  the  feelings 
of  hostility  towards  Great  Britain.  Collisions  also  had 
occurred  off  the  coast  of  the  United  States  between 
American  and  English  ships.  The  first  of  these,  the 
affair  between  the  Leopard  and  Chesapeake,  which  has 
already  been  adverted  to,  was  not  forgotten.  In  1811  a 
similar  rencontre  occurred  between  the  United  States 
frigate  President  and  the  British  sloop-of-war  Litfle 
Belt.  These  immediate  sources  of  irritation,  added  to 
the  grievances  already  mentioned  of  a  more  extensive 


324  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

and  general  character,  disposed  the  United  States  to 
resort  to  the  last  argument  of  nations;  and,  in  1812, 
Congress  passed  an  act  declaring  war.  The  war  had  in 
fact,  for  several  years,  existed  on  the  part  of  Great  Bri 
tain  against  the  United  States,  and  the  declaration  of 
Congress,  and  the  proclamation  of  the  president,  were 
rather  official  announcements  of  an  existing  war  than  the 
commencement  of  a  new  one. 

From  this  summary  review  of  the  causes  which  again 
brought  the  United  States  into  collision  with  England, 
we  perceive  that,  like  the  causes  of  the  Revolution,  they 
mainly  centered  in  commercial  matters.  The  seizure 
of  American  commerce,  and  the  impressment  of  seamen, 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  war ;  a  war  which  might  not 
have  occurred  had  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  never  been 
fought.  That  sea-fight  annihilated  the  naval  power  of 
France,  and  Great  Britain  was  left  the  mistress  of  the 
ocean.  The  continental  system  of  Napoleon,  and  the 
maritime  system  of  England,  were  then  substituted  for 
the  usual  naval  operations ;  and,  in  the  artillery  of  im 
perial  decrees,  orders  in  council,  and  paper  blockades, 
by  which  the  battle  between  these  two  systems  was 
fought,  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  and  all  their 
ocean  rights  became  the  sport  and  prey  of  Great  Britain. 
But  the  same  benign  Providence  which  thus  links  to 
gether  the  great  chain  of  human  affairs,  also  prepares 
the  means  by  which  the  apparent  evils  of  a  whole  series 
of  events  are  brought  to  result  in  ultimate  good.  The 
energy  and  recklessness  with  which  England  pursued 
her  maritime  system  produced  the  war  between  her  and 
the  United  States — a  war  which  was  a  new  trial  for  our 
republican  system,  and  which,  with  many  evils  in  its 
train,  relieved  the  nation  from  a  protracted  series  of 
commercial  oppressions. 


THE   WAR    OF    1812.  325 

IT.  Let  us  next  take  a  general  survey  of  the  course 
of  events  during  the  war,  that  we  may  see  how  our  re 
public  defended  its  rights,  and  what  proof  it  gave  of 
ability  to  maintain  itself  against  the  force  of  the  Old 
World.  I  do  not  mean  to  give  a  detail  of  campaigns 
and  naval  battles,  of  sieges  and  Indian  massacres ;  all 
that  is  now  allowed  us  is  an  outline — a  summary  view — 
a  mere  glimpse  of  the  prominent  features  and  charac 
teristics  of  the  contest. 

(1.)  Look  first  at  the  military  part — the  army  opera 
tions  ;  what  was  done  there  ?  Along  the  whole  Atlantic 
coast,  the  United  States,  as  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution, 
were  exposed  to  invasions  from  British  troops ;  the 
northern  border  presented  facilities  for  incursions  from 
Canada ;  the  northwestern  frontier  lay  open  to  attacks 
from  the  Indians — those  subsidized  tomahawks  of  Bri 
tain — while  on  the  southwest  the  Mississippi  opened  an 
entrance  for  hostile  troops,  and  southern  savages  stood 
ready  to  aid  them.  Thus  the  entire  circuit  of  the  United 
States,  from  Boston  round  to  Boston  again,  exposed 
points  of  attack  to  a  powerful,  vigilant,  and  active 
enemy ;  and  the  actual  military  operations  were  as  ex 
tensively  diffused  as  the  points  of  attack.  They  were 
in  fact  conducted  all  round  the  country,  and  sometimes 
in  it.  On  the  northwest  the  military  operations  were 
aggressive,  and  aggressive  for  a  double  reason.  Expe 
rience  had  demonstrated  that  the  best  mode  to  wage  war 
against  Indians  was  to  attack  them,  to  carry  the  war 
into  their  own  territories.  It  was  also  supposed  that 
many  advantages  would  be  gained  by  invading  Canada. 
These  two  views,  to  attack  the  Indians,  and  to  enter 
Canada  on  the  northwest,  produced  active  aggressive 
hostilities  in  that  region.  The  results  of  these  attempts 
were  not  so  favourable  to  the  United  States  as  had  been 

2E 


326  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

anticipated — no  very  extraordinary  fact  in  military  mat 
ters.  The  American  forces  did  invade  Canada.  General 
Hull  did  not,  however,  make  a  very  glorious  commence 
ment  in  that  quarter ;  but  his  disasters  were  in  a  measure 
repaired  by  Harrison  and  his  worthy  associates ;  and  a 
continued  series  of  military  operations  were  conducted 
in  that  region  during  the  war.  The  battles  of  the  Thames 
and  others  were  alike  creditable  to  our  arms  and  advan 
tageous  to  the  government. 

The  inhabitants  of  all  the  western  region  of  the  United 
States  had  been  unanimous  and  loud  in  their  demands 
for  the  war ;  and  when  it  was  declared,  Ohio  and  Ken 
tucky  entered  upon  the  contest,  with  an  energy  which 
originated  equally  in  native  bravery,  and  in  a  remem 
brance  of  the  Indian  outrages  which  were  laid  to  the 
account  of  Great  Britain.  Their  power  was  mainly 
directed  to  the  northwest.  That  disasters  sometimes 
occurred  in  that  region,  is  a  fact  to  be  set  down  neither 
to  the  account  of  our  form  of  government  nor  to  the 
wTant  of  valour  in  the  men  who  wTere  there  engaged. 

Beside  the  northwest,  the  whole  Canada  line  was  the 
scene  of  active  hostilities ;  and  invasions  wrere  made  by 
the  Americans  upon  the  British  side  of  the  river,  and  by 
the  British  upon  the  American  side.  The  battles  of 
Chippewa  and  Lundy's  Lane,  fought  in  Canada,  re 
sulted  favourably  to  the  American  arms,  and  were  well- 
fought  engagements.  But  notwithstanding  these  and 
other  advantages,  the  attempts  of  the  Americans  to  in 
vade  Canada  were,  in  the  main,  unsuccessful ;  while  the 
attempts  of  the  British  in  that  quarter  to  penetrate  into 
the  American  territory  were  still  more  unsuccessful. 

Along  the  Atlantic  the  British  forces,  made  frequent 
descents,  committed  depredations  in  the  Chesapeake 
bay  and  its  tributaries,  sacked  the  city  of  Washington, 


THE   WAR   OF    1812.i  327 

burned  towns,  and  fought  the  battle  of  Baltimore.  The 
coast  from  the  mouth  of  the  Chesapeake  to  Rhode 
Island  was  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  blockade ;  and 
many  outrages,  that  are  not  usual  in  war  between  civil 
ized  nations,  were  committed  upon  the  persons  and  pri 
vate  property  of  American  citizens. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  the  change  of  opinion,  or  at 
least  of  conduct,  which  a  change  of  position  sometimes 
introduces  among  men.  English  writers,  previously  to 
the  American  war,  had  denounced  Napoleon  as  the 
great  beast,  the  scourge  of  the  world,  and  the  violater 
of  all  law  human  and  divine.  But  Napoleon  had  been 
in  ever}'  capital  on  the  continent  of  Europe  with  his 
armies,  and  in  none  of  them — Moscow  with  its  Kremlin 
excepted — had  he  wantonly  destroyed  property.  In 
Berlin,  in  Vienna,  in  Madrid,  and  in  other  cities,  he 
committed  no  outrages  on  public  or  private  buildings. 
But  when  the  English  armies  invaded  the  coasts  of  the 
United  States,  they  burned  the  towns ;  when  they  en 
tered  Washington  City,  they  destroyed  the  public  pro 
perty.  Who  blew  up  the  Kremlin?  WTho  burnt  the 
capitol  of  the  United  States?  Who  seized  and  exe 
cuted  the  Duke  d'Enghien?  Who  permitted  the  In 
dians  to  massacre  American  prisoners  at  Frenchtown  ? 
Is  it  true  that  Omar,  the  Saracen,  burnt  that  great  library 
in  Egypt  ?  Is  it  true  that  Chihoangti  committed  to  the 
flames  the  books  of  China,  with  their  crooked  letters  and 
perpendicular  lines  ?  Who  burnt  the  library  of  Congress 
at  Washington  City  ? 

But  let  us  leave  the  catechism  and  go  on  with  the 
war.  Along  the  Atlantic  coast  the  military  operations 
on  the  part  of  the  Americans  were,  for  the  most  part, 
defensive,  and  were  at  first  conducted  with  less  vigour 
than  on  the  north  and  the  south.  The  fires  of  the  capitol 


328  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

finally  sent  their  heat  through  the  adjacent  states ;  and 
Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania  hastened  to  the 
rescue.  Bat  on  the  south  and  southwest  the  war  was 
waged  with  an  ardour  that  was  alike  creditable  and  pro 
ductive  of  success.  The  Indians  in  that  region  had 
been  instigated  by  British  emissaries  to  take  up  arms ; 
and  the  Creeks  and  Seminoles  commenced  hostilities. 
These  were  at  that  time  powerful  tribes.  They  were, 
however,  promptly  met ;  and  the  fields  of  Talladega, 
Tohopeka,  and  Emuckfaw  proved  their  valour,  but  de 
stroyed  their  warriors.  In  the  same  region  the  British 
made  their  last  and  most  vigorous  efforts  to  invade  the 
territory  of  the  United  States.  The  Mississippi  offered 
them  an  avenue  deep  into  the  heart  of  the  western 
country.  But  their  defeat  at  Orleans  proved  that  an  in 
vading  army,  though  favoured  by  navigable  rivers,  and 
opposed  only  by  a  citizen  soldiery,  must  ever  encounter 
a  most  determined  resistance  in  the  United  States.  Upon 
the  first  alarm  of  a  British  force  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  whole  southwest  prepared  to  oppose 
them.  Tennessee  alone  sent  one-third  of  her  whole 
enrolled  militia.  Fortunately,  the  victory  of  Orleans 
relieved  the  south ;  and  the  treaty  of  peace  put  an  end 
to  hostilities. 

Thus  the  military  operations  of  the  war  were  con 
ducted  round  the  entire  circuit  of  the  country.  The 
northwest,  the  Canada  line,  the  Atlantic  coast,  the  south, 
and  the  southwest,  all  heard  the  connonade.  During 
the  Revolution,  the  colonies  had  a  border  warfare  with 
the  Indians,  who  made  aggressions  from  the  north  and 
west.  Hostilities  also  were  conducted  through  the  whole 
country  from  Massachusetts  to  Georgia;  and  military 
operations  were  diffused  in  little  fragmentary  parcels. 
A  similar  diffusion  took  place  in  the  war  of  1812 : 


THE    WAR    OF    1812.  329 

places  widely  separated  in  geographical  position  were 
attacked,  and  no  very  powerful  concentration  of  troops 
was  effected  at  any 'one  point. 

The  north,  the  east,  and  the  south,  each  had  its  bat 
tles  ;  and  the  forces  of  the  United  States  were  scattered 
round  the  whole  country.  This  diffusive  warfare  was  a 
circumstance  in  favour  of  our  country.  In  the  Revolu 
tion  it  was  required  by  the  scattered  condition  of  the 
population ;  and  in  the  war  of  1812  it  was  again  adopted 
by  the  British,  though  without  the  reasons  which  ren 
dered  it  necessary  in  1776.  The  geographical  position 
of  our  republic  exposes  it  to  this  desultory  warfare  ;  and 
should  it  ever  again  come  in  collision  with  Great  Bri 
tain,  that  nation  with  its  immense  naval  power  may  again 
undertake  military  operations  on  the  north,  on  the  east, 
and  on  the  south  of  the  United  States,  unless  by  some 
freak  of  fortune  the  scene  of  hostilities  should  be  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  actual  western  border 
of  our  country  will,  however,  soon  extend  to  the  Pacific. 
It  is  there  now  in  name,  and  in  a  few  years  it  will  be 
there  in  reality.  The  limits — the  exposed  attackable 
limits  of  the  United  States — will  thus  be  vastly  extended 
beyond  what  they  were  in  previous  wars.  But  the  olives 
of  peace  will,  it  is  hoped,  for  long  ages  to  come,  expand 
their  green  leaves  round  this  extensive  circuit. 

(2.)  Look  next  at  the  naval  operations  of  the  wrar; 
what  was  done  on  the  ocean  and  on  the  lakes  ?  Here  a 
series  of  successful  events  occurred  which  surprised  alike 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  On  the  northern 
lakes  an  American  naval  force  was  brought  to  co-ope 
rate  with  the  army,  and  rendered  much  efficient  and 
brilliant  service  to  the  country.  On  Lake  Erie,  on  Lake 
Ontario,  and  on  Lake  Champlain,  the  naval  operations 
were  highly  successful.  The  possession  of  Canada  gave 

2E* 


330       PROGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  British  facilities  for  obtaining  the  command  of  the 
lakes,  where  their  superiority  would  have  been  a  great 
annoyance  to  the  United  States.  But  great  diligence 
was  employed  by  our  government  to  construct  vessels 
of  war  upon  those  waters,  and  the  results  justified  the 
exertions.  On  Lake  Erie  a  little  fleet  was  equipped  ; 
and  soon  the  despatch  arrived  at  the  capitol,  "  We  have 
met  the  enemy  and  they  are  ours."  On  Lake  Champlain 
a  naval  battle,  involving  most  important  consequences 
to  our  republic,  resulted  in  another  victory.  We  say 
that  this  battle  involved  important  consequences ;  for  it 
defeated  the  plan  which  the  British  had  formed  for  dis 
membering  the  Union.  It  was  known  that  in  New  Eng 
land  much  opposition  to  the  war  existed,  and  the  British 
hoped  that  this  state  of  feeling  could  be  turned  to  good 
account.  They  accordingly  planned  a  campaign  whose 
main  object  was  to  proceed  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain 
to  the  Hudson,  and  then  down  that  river  to  New  York  ; 
the  design  being  to  cut  off  the  New  England  states  from 
communication  writh  the  rest  of  the  Union,  and  induce 
them  to  make  a  separate  peace.  This  was  substantially 
the  plan  adopted  in  the  Revolution,  when  Burgoyne  was 
sent  down  Lake  Champlain  wTith  instructions  to  proceed 
to  New  York ;  but  Saratoga  proved  as  fatal  to  the  scheme 
in  1777  as  Plattsburg  did  in  1814.  In  this  last  attempt 
our  little  fleet  of  eighty-six  guns  destroyed  and  captured 
the  English  squadron  of  ninety-five  guns ;  the  British 
land  forces  in  consequence  ran  awray ;  and  the  plan  of 
dividing  the  Union,  and  making  a  separate  peace  with 
New  England,  was  abandoned.  Perhaps  no  plan  was 
better  devised,  either  in  the  Revolution  or  in  the  late 
war,  than  this  of  intersecting  the  country  from  Canada 
byway  of  the  valley  of  the  Hudson.  Its  success  would, 
in  either  war,  have  greatly  embarrassed  the  Americans. 


THE   WAR   OF    1812.  331 

But  it  was  on  the  Atlantic  that  the  single  ships  of  the 
United  States  performed  the  most  illustrious  deeds.  The 
existence  of  the  war  had  hardly  been  announced  when 
the  American  frigate  Essex  was  attacked  by  the  British 
sloop-of-war  the  Alert.  In  a  few  minutes  the  latter 
vessel  was  captured ;  and  hers  was  the  first  British  flag 
that  was  sent  to  Washington  City  to  tell  of  that  ocean 
career  on  which  the  American  navy  was  entering.  In 
the  same  summer  (A.D.  1812)  occurred  the  naval  ac 
tions  in  which  the  Constitution  captured  the  British  ships 
the  Guerriere  and  Java ;  and  the  Macedonian  was  taken 
by  the  ship  United  States.  These  successful  achieve 
ments  seemed  to  open  a  new  field  for  American  ambi 
tion,  and  produced  an  extraordinary  sensation  both  in 
our  own  country  and  in  Europe.  In  the  United  States 
they  were  received  with  exultation,  and  in  Britain  with 
amazement,  while  on  the  continent  they  opened  new 
prospects  to  the  fighting  nations.  They  had  a  moral 
effect,  which  gave  them  an  importance  far  transcending 
their  value  as  mere  belligerent  operations.  Their  moral 
effect  resulted  from  the  circumstances  of  the  nations  then 
at  war.  Great  Britain  had  for  years  ruled  the  ocean ; 
the  battle  of  Trafalgar  had  annihilated  the  last  remnant 
of  naval  opposition  from  France  and  Spain ;  Napoleon 
with  all  his  resources  made  little  progress  in  organizing 
a  navy ;  Holland  had  vanished  from  the  catalogue  of 
nations ;  Denmark  and  the  Baltic  Powers  were  neutral 
ized  or  associated  with  Great  Britain ;  English  ships 
swept  the  ocean  ;  and  it  seemed  as  natural  for  Britain  to 
conquer  at  sea,  as  for  Napoleon  to  be  triumphant  on  land. 
In  this  state  of  the  maritime  world,  the  success  of  the 
American  navy  was  hailed  by  the  enemies  of  Great  Bri 
tain  as  a  new  era  in  modern  warfare.  They  saw  a  young 
power  springing  from  the  Western  Continent,  and  trim- 


332  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

ming  its  wings  for  a  flight  upon  the  ocean — a  power  which 
would  speedily  divide  the  sovereignty  of  the  seas  with 
their  former  mistress — a  power  which  threatened  to  de 
stroy  the  maritime  system  in  which  England  had  been 
engaged.  These  circumstances  and  prospects  gave  to 
the  naval  success  of  the  Americans  a  value  and  an  im 
portance  which  Great  Britain  was  anxious  to  destroy. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  war  the  navy  was  unpo 
pular — very  unpopular.  Many  hard  names  had  been 
applied  to  it.  But  the  brilliant  triumphs  which  it  gained 
speedily  brought  it  into  good  repute ;  and  during  the  two 
years  and  a  half  of  the  war,  it  continued  to  maintain  its 
good  name.  Some  disasters,  indeed,  occurred ;  as  the 
loss  of  the  Chesapeake  and  Essex ;  but  from  the  com 
mencement  of  the  war  to  its  close,  the  navy  showed  itself 
truly  the  right  arm  of  our  national  defence.  Its  success 
compensated  the  United  States  for  sore  disasters  else 
where.  If  General  Hull  surrendered  an  American  army 
on  the  northwest,  Commodore  Hull  captured  the  Guer- 
riere,  and  repaired  on  water  the  evil  which  his  namesake 
had  done  on  land.  If  the  troops  of  the  United  States 
were  defeated  at  the  scrambling  battle  of  Frenchtown, 
the  American  Hornet  stung  the  British  birds  the  Pea 
cock  and  the  Epervier,*  and  adorned  our  arms  with  new 
feathers.  If  Baltimore  and  Orleans  were  saved  by  the 
valour  and  good  conduct  of  our  land  forces,  our  flag 
gained  unexpected  triumphs  on  the  ocean.  Nor  was  it 
only  in  a  few  isolated  combats  that  these  triumphs  were 
obtained.  There  is  such  a  fact  as  a  general  current  of 
success — a  movement  of  affairs  which,  in  their  general 
tenor  and  bearing,  have  a  preponderance  in  a  particular 
direction.  Thus,  the  general  current  of  events  in  the 
naval  contests  between  France  and  England  has  ex- 

*  A  hawk. 


THE   WAR    OF    1812. 


333 


hibited  a  pretty  uniform  preponderance  in  favour  of  the 
latter.  So  also  in  the  presidential  elections  in  the  United 
States ;  there  is  occasionally  a  general  movement,  or 
tendency,  or  current — call  it  by  what  name  you  will — 
which  seems  sometimes  to  pervade  the  whole  country, 
and  draws  «  most  souls"  a  particular  way.  A  similar 
fact  was  observable  in  the  naval  operations  of  the  United 
States  during  this  war ;  there  was  a  general  current  of 
success  which  pervaded  them.  On  Lake  Erie,  on  Lake 
Champlain,  and  along  the  water  boundary  on  the  north, 
the  American  navy  was  victorious.  On  the  Atlantic 
also,  both  along  the  coast  and  far  out  upon  the  ocean,  it 
was  in  general  successful.  A  statement  of  "  facts  and 
figures"  will  best  show  the  relative  number  of  the  naval 
victories  of  the  two  nations.  Let  us  write  down  the 
names  of  the  American  vessels,  and  the  names  of  the 
British  vessels  they  captured  in  battle,  setting  the  one 
over  against  the  other,  and  the  account  will  stand  as 
follows : 


AMERICAN  VESSELS. 

The  Essex captured  the 

"  Constitution  .... 

"  Wasp 

11  United  States     .    .    . 

"  Constitution  .... 

"  Hornet 

"  Enterprise      .     .    .    • 

"  Peacock 

"  Wasp 

"  Wasp 

"    Constitution  .... 


Hornet 

U.  S.  Squadron,  on 

Lake  Erie, 

U.  S.  Squadron,  on 

Lake  Champlain, 


BRITISH  VESSELS, 

Alert. 

Guerriere. 
,     Frolic. 
,     Macedonian. 

Java. 

Peacock. 

Boxer. 
,     Epervier. 

Reindeer. 
,    Avon. 

Cyane  and 

Levant. 
.     .     Penguin. 

British  Squadron. 
British  Squadron. 


334  PROGRESS    OF    THE   UNITED   STATES. 

If  we  write  down  the  victories  of  the  British  vessels, 
and  the  American  vessels  they  captured  in  battle,  the 
account  will  stand  as  follows  : 

BRITISH   VESSELS.  AMERICAN   VESSELS. 

The  Shannon     ....    captured  the    ....     Chesapeake. 

"    Phoebe  and  ) 

/...."          "      .     .     .     .     Essex. 
Cherub      J 

Here  ends  the  catalogue  of  the  naval  defeats  of  the 
Americans.  The  other  losses  they  experienced  were  in 
the  capture  of  the  Argus,  the  Wasp,  the  President,  and 
the  Nautilus,  which  were  at  different  times  surrendered 
to  a  British  squadron,  or  to  a  greatly  superior  force ; 
their  loss  being  neither  regarded  as  victories  by  the  Bri 
tish  nor  defeats  by  the  Americans. 

The  conflicts  which  gave  these  results  were  very 
widely  diffused.  Except  on  the  lakes,  the  Americans 
only  engaged  in  single  vessels,  and  did  not  accumulate 
any  great  maritime  force  on  any  one  point.  There  was 
no  battle  of  Trafalgar  or  Aboukir  at  sea,  nor  was  there 
any  Waterloo,  or  Borodino,  or  Austerlitz  on  land  ;  but 
there  was  a  wide  dispersion  of  force  over  lake,  and  sea, 
and  land ;  and,  by  using  a  little  military  imagination, 
we  might  say  that  the  battle  was  all  round  the  country, 
and  all  over  the  water. 

Such  was  the  mode  of  conducting  the  war,  and  the 
general  course  of  events  which  characterized  it.  It  was, 
in  its  origin,  mainly  a  commercial  war.  There  was, 
therefore,  an  appositeness — a  fitness  in  conducting  it 
vigorously  on  the  water.  Accordingly,  the  naval  ope 
rations  soon  excited  a  most  intense  interest,  and  were 
attended  with  the  most  brilliant  success.  What  facts  or 
circumstances  brought  about  this  success  of  the  navy  ? 
and  to  what  circumstances  are  we  to  attribute  the  fre- 


THE   WAR   OF    1812.  335 

quent  disasters  which  occurred  to  the  American  forces 
on  land  ? 

III.  The  triumphs  on  the  lakes  and  ocean  may  be 
attributed  to  the  skill  of  the  American  naval  officers,  and 
to  the  experience  and  heroism  of  the  seamen.  The 
United  States  had  been  engaged  in  a  maritime  war  with 
Tripoli,  during  which  their  little  navy  became  acquainted 
with  actual  service.  The  superior  officers  and  others 
who  had  been  employed  in  these  hazardous  enterprises 
continued  in  the  navy,  and  formed  its  most  efficient  ma 
terial.  They  had  been  schooled  among  the  rocks  and 
gun-boats  of  the  Barbary  -coast,  and  now  applied  the 
useful  knowledge  there  acquired  to  maintain  the  cause 
of  their  country  against  the  greatest  maritime  power  in 
the  world.  The  superior  skill  of  the  Americans  in  gun 
nery  was  manifested  by  the  great  disparity  of  lives  lost 
in  these  naval  actions,  and  also  by  the  difference  of 
damage  clone  to  the  vessels  of  the  respective  nations ; 
the  loss  of  life  on  board  the  American  vessels  being  very 
much  less  than  that  on  board  the  British,  and  the  ships 
of  the  enemy  being  much  more  cut  up  than  those  of  the 
Americans. 

The  extensive  commerce  of  the  United  States,  espe 
cially  the  carrying-trade  between  the  belligerent  nations 
previously  to  1807,  had  also  trained  and  disciplined  many 
seamen  in  all  the  tactics  of  the  ocean,  and  prepared 
them  for  efficient  service.  Hence,  when  an  American 
ship  was  brought  into  battle,  she  was  usually  well  handled. 
If  she  was  attacked  by  a  superior  force,  her  crew  under 
stood  all  the  stratagems  by  which  to  escape  from  their 
too  powerful  foes ;  an  example  of  which  may  be  cited 
in  the  case  of  the  gallant  ship  the  Constitution,  which 
succeeded  in  making  her  escape  from  a  British  squadron 
after  a  chase  of  two  days  and  a  half — a  race  which  ex- 


336  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

hibited  more  skill  and  seamanship  than  any  other  affair 
during  the  war.  The  crews  of  the  American  vessels 
also  went  into  the  contest  with  a  vivid  recollection  of 
the  many  injuries  which  the  commerce  of  their  country 
had  suffered,  and  also  with  the  ardent  feelings  excited 
by  the  remembrance  of  old  comrades,  and  sometimes 
of  relatives,  who  had  been  seized  and  carried  away  as 
British  subjects.  They  were,  too,  of  the  same  blood — 
of  the  same  Anglo-Saxon  and  Celtic  stock  as  the  heroes 
of  the  British  navy  who  had  fought  at  Aboukir  and  Tra 
falgar,  and  all  over  the  oceans  and  seas ;  and  whose 
gallant  bearing  and  inborn  courage  had  rendered  truthful 
the  poetic  declaration,  that 

"  Britannia  needs  no  bulwarks, 
No  towers  along  the  steep ; 
Her  march  is  on  the  mountain  wave, 
Her  home  is  on  the  deep." 

The  American  seamen  being  by  birth  and  blood  of 
the  same  family  with  the  gallant  tars  who  had  gained 
this  maritime  superiority  for  Britain,  entered  the  contest 
with  equal  bravery,  more  skill,  and  many  personal  griev 
ances.  Hence  it  resulted  that,  in  the  naval  battles  where 
the  forces  were  nearly  equal,  there  was  much  severe 
fighting ;  ships  were  lost  and  won  on  both  sides,  and 
great  gallantry  exhibited ;  but  there  was  a  general  course 
of  success  in  favour  of  the  Americans. 

IV.  The  army  of  the  United  States  was  not  so  suc 
cessful  as  the  navy ;  a  result  which  is  mainly  to  be  at 
tributed  to  the  want  of  preparation  before  the  war  was 
commenced,  and  to  the  aggressive  character  of  the  mi 
litary  operations  on  the  north.  The  time  for  declaring 
hostilities  by  the  United  States  was  of  their  own  choos 
ing,  but  they  inconsiderately  began  the  war  while  their 
army  and  navy  were  both  in  a  condition  unfit  for  very 


THE   WAR   OF    1812.  337 

efficient  service.  For  example,  on  Lake  Erie  there  was, 
at  the  declaration  of  war,  one  small  vessel  in  dock  and 
unfinished ;  and  to  complete  its  misfortunes,  the  little 
thing  was  included  in  Hull's  surrender,  and  went  over 
to  the  British.  The  land  forces  of  the  regular  army  were 
on  a  similar  scale ;  for  when  all  told,  they  amounted  to  six 
or  seven  thousand,  and  these  were  dispersed  over  a  great 
extent  of  country.  A  few  requisitions  for  militia  had  been 
made  upon  the  states,  and  these  forces  were  on  the  north 
western  frontier,  where  they  were  left  without  proper  in 
structions — the  British  in  that  quarter  having  received  the 
first  information  of  the  declaration  of  war.  This  want 
of  preparation  and  management  paralyzed  the  efforts  of 
the  United  States  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  gave 
the  British  forces  time  to  concentrate  on  the  points  where 
danger  was  threatened. 

The  American  arms  on  the  north  were  also  unsuc 
cessful  in  their  attempts  to  invade  Canada.  Several  of 
these  attempts  were  made  both  in  Upper  and  Lower  Ca 
nada;  and  though  some  advantages  were  gained,  and 
several  battles  fought,  the  invasions  were,  in  the  main, 
unsuccessful.  Military  men  have  given  the  opinion  that, 
in  the  actual  state  of  matters,  prudence  required  the 
American  troops  to  act  on  the  defensive,  and  not  to  as 
sume  the  aggressive.  Certain  it  is,  that  the  defensive 
conduct  of  the  American  militia  at  other  points,  as  at 
Orleans  and  Baltimore,  was  attended  by  much  happier 
results.  The  forces  who  acted  on  the  north  were  as 
brave  as  any  in  the  world ;  but  the  invasion  of  a  country 
where  all  is  hostile  requires  more  skill,  and  discipline, 
and  perseverance,  and  manoeuvring,  than  is  ordinarily 
possessed  by  any  militia.  Hence,  all  the  attempts  to 
gain  possession  of  Canada  by  the  American  militia  were 
unsuccessful,  though  they  were  made  at  different  points 

2F 


338  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

along  a  frontier  of  eight  or  nine  hundred  miles  in  ex 
tent.  On  the  south  and  east  of  the  country,  where  a 
merely  defensive  warfare  was  maintained,  the  results 
were  more  advantageous  to  the  United  States.  At  Or 
leans  more  especially,  the  success  of  the  militia  in  the 
protection  of  the  city  exhibited  the  manner  in  which  that 
force  can  be  rendered  most  efficient ;  and  a  similar  lesson 
was  given  by  the  energy  with  which  the  defences  of 
Baltimore  were  conducted. 

V.  Were  we  to  inquire  concerning  the  difficult  or 
adverse  circumstances  in  which  this  war  was  waged  by 
the  United  States,  wre  would  find  some  of  them  to  be 
long  to  the  peculiar  situation  of  the  country  at  that  time, 
and  others  of  them  to  be  incident  to  our  form  of  go 
vernment.  Though  the  United  States  selected  their  own 
time  for  commencing  hostilities,  neither  their  army  nor 
their  navy  was  a  proper  representative  of  the  force  of 
the  country.  The  attention  of  the  government  had  been 
called  by  Washington  to  the  navy;  but,  as  was  observed 
in  a  previous  lecture,  this  department  of  the  national 
power  became  a  subject  of  party  discussion  between  the 
Federalists  and  Democrats,  and  no  provisions  of  an  ex 
tensive  or  permanent  nature  were  made  for  its  support. 
During  the  administration  of  the  elder  Adams,  some 
prominence  was  given  to  it ;  but  the  great  expense  which 
was  required  to  equip  a  vessel  for  sea,  restrained  the 
general  government  in  its  maritime  preparations.  There 
were,  indeed,  wars  and  rumours  of  wars,  and  much  hard 
fighting  in  Europe  during  his  administration ;  but  the 
United  States,  though  somewhat  moved,  were  away  from 
the  whirlpool  which  was  agitating  the  innumerable  in 
terests  and  passions  of  the  Old  World. 

WThen  Mr.  Jefferson  succeeded  to  the  presidential  , 
chair,  he  brought  with  him  opinions  rather  hostile  than 


THE    WAR    OF    1812.  339 

favourable  to  the  naval  service.  The  vast  maritime  force 
of  Great  Britain  impressed  him  with  the  belief  that  the 
fleets  equipped  by  the  United  States  would  speedily  be 
captured  by  England,  and  would  merely  be  vessels  built 
for  her  service.  Besides,  the  enormous  expense  of  a 
navy  rendered  it  unpopular.  Economy  was  considered 
an  essential  element  of  democratic  government ;  and  in 
order  to  be  economical,  the  general  government  sought 
other  means  of  protection  than  those  to  be  found  on  the 
deck  of  a  man-of-war.  Mr.  Jefferson  accordingly  con 
tracted  the  circle  of  maritime  operations  to  mere  coast 
and  harbour  defences — a  service  in  which  it  was  sup 
posed  gun-boats  might  well  take  the  place  of  ships,  as 
they  would  be  equally  efficient  and  less  expensive.  This 
method  of  defence  was  accordingly  received  into  favour 
to  the  neglect  of  the  navy. 

From  these  views  it  resulted  that  the  naval  power  of 
the  United  States  at  the  commencement  of  the  war 
amounted  to  nothing  on  the  lakes,  and  counted  on  the 
Atlantic  only  four  frigates  and  eight  sloops.  This  was 
the  force  which  the  republic  possessed  for  defending 
seven  thousand  merchant- vessels  at  sea,  and  for  con 
ducting  a  war  which  was  commercial  in  its  origin,  and 
was  maintained  by  Great  Britain  with  her  thousand  ships. 

This  economy  of  the  general  government  was  cer 
tainly  misplaced,  for  it  confined  the  energies  of  the  nation 
to  a  mere  coast  defence,  when  by  maintaining  a  greater 
force  afloat  in  the  shape  of  a  navy,  the  insults  to  our 
flag  and  the  injuries  to  our  commerce  by  the  raging  bel 
ligerents  of  Europe  might  have  been  prevented.  The 
commerce  of  the  world  was  open  to  the  United  States 
at  the  commencement  of  the  wars  of  the  French  Revo 
lution  in  1792  ;  and  had  our  republic  possessed  a  navy 
adequate  to  the  protection  of  her  maritime  rights  during 


340       PROGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  twenty  years  that  followed,  the  continued  series  of 
insults  from  England  and  France  would  not  very  pro 
bably  have  been  offered.  It  requires,  indeed,  not  much 
sagacity  to  connect  the  war  of  1812,  and  all  its  pre 
ceding  and  accompanying  injuries,  with  the  unwilling 
ness  of  our  government  to  maintain  a  naval  power  suf 
ficient  to  protect  our  commerce.  We  do  not  say  that 
the  United  States  had  the  means  to  keep  afloat  a  navy 
equal  to  that  of  Great  Britain.  They  unquestionably 
had  not.  But  even  the  resources  which  they  could  have 
employed  were  not  applied  to  this  purpose,  because  it 
seemed  altogether  impossible  to  contend  with  England 
for  equal  rights  upon  the  ocean. 

The  collisions  in  1798,  in  the  West  Indies,  between 
the  little  American  squadron,  under  Commodore  Truxtun, 
and  the  French  ships-of-war,  were  highly  creditable  to 
the  former ;  but  our  people  were  still  not  aware  that  the 
ocean  was  the  element  on  which  the  honour  and  power 
of  our  republic  were  to  be  maintained.  This  idea  did 
not  take  full  possession  of  the  American  mind  until 
actual  hostilities  with  Great  Britain  demonstrated  what 
our  navy  could  accomplish.  When  the  capture  of  the 
British  frigates  the  Guerriere,  the  Java,  the  Macedonian, 
&c.,  proved  that  the  United  States  could  maintain  their 
rights  on  the  ocean,  the  navy  came  into  favour,  and  will 
henceforth  be  relied  upon  as  the  powerful  means  of  pro 
tection  and  defence. 

The  active  commercial  enterprise  in  which  the  people 
of  the  United  States  had  engaged,  was  of  great  and  es 
sential  service,  and  contributed  much  to  this  naval  suc 
cess.  American  seamen  had  been  schooled  on  the  waves 
of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  and  in  every  sea  where  wind 
and  sails  and  private  gain  could  carry  them.  Hence, 
when  the  war  commenced,  national  vessels  and  pri- 


THE    WAR    OF    1812.  341 

vateers  were  in  the  hands  of  men  who  were  well  ac 
quainted  with  all  that  related  to  a  seafaring  life.     The 
maritime  strength  of  the  republic  lay  not  in  national 
ships,  but  in  the  numerous  body  of  seamen  who  were 
dispersed  through  the  seven  thousand  private  merchant- 
vessels  of  the  nation.     Here  was  the  real  power  of  the 
government  upon  the  ocean  in  those  days,  and  here  is 
its  real  maritime  strength  at  the  present  time.    More  ex 
tensive  success  might  have  been  obtained  in  the  last  war 
if  this  ocean  militia  had  been  directed  to  more  active 
operations— directed  at  an  earlier  day— and  directed  by 
the  government  so  as  to  bring  all  its  concentrated  and 
converging  energies  to  the  service  of  the  nation.     We 
have  stated  that  four  frigates  and  eight  sloops  were  all 
that  our  republic  had  in  service  when  the  war  com 
menced,  while  Great  Britain  had  one  thousand  national 
armed  vessels.     It  must  be  admitted  that  such  a  limited 
preparation  on  the  ocean  was  a  circumstance  very  dis 
advantageous  to  the  United  States ;  but  it  was  an  acci 
dental  circumstance— a  condition  of  things  arising  from 
the  views  of  statesmen  at  that  day,  an4  in  no  way  con 
nected  with  the  essential  nature  or  organization  of  our 
government.     A  monarch  on  an  American  throne,  if 
such  a  being  is  within  the  range  of  imagination,  might 
have  committed  a  similar  mistake — might  have  supposed 
that  gun-boats  were,  in  all  the  circumstances,  the  best 
practicable  means  of  operation  upon  water.    The  enter 
prise  of  the  country,  which  had  raised  up  seafaring  men, 
supplied   the   place   of  more    ample   preparation,   and 
brought  forward  gallant  heroes  to  protect  and  defend 
the  ocean  rights  of  the  republic.     American  privateers 
abounded  in  almost  every  sea  and  ocean  of  the  world ; 
and  their  sails  were  unfurled,  and  their  cannon  heard  in 
the  Pacific,  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  all  over  the  Atlantic, 


342       PROGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

in  the  West  Indies,  and  in  the  channels  off  the  coasts 
of  Great  Britain.  Immense  injuries  were  inflicted  upon 
the  commerce  of  England,  and,  during  the  two  years 
and  a  half  of  the  continuance  of  the  war,  the  number 
of  prizes  made  by  the  Americans,  according  to  the 
record  in  Niles's  Register,  amounted  to  fourteen  hundred 
and  eight  vessels,  a  large  number  of  which  contained 
cargoes  of  great  value.  Many  others  doubtless  were 
taken  whose  names  did  not  find  their  way  to  that  record  ; 
and  the  merchants  of  the  sea-port  towns  made  a  profit 
able  business  out  of  the  depredations  they  committed 
upon  the  enemy's  commerce.  So  active  were  the  pri 
vateers  of  the  United  States  in  this  business,  that  towards 
the  latter  part  of  the  wrar,  insurance  on  British  vessels 
against  capture,  from  Liverpool  to  Halifax,  amounted 
to  thirty-five  per  cent.  The  British  were  not  remiss  in 
making  similar  attacks  upon  the  American  commerce ; 
but  their  captures  of  vessels  from  the  United  States 
during  the  war,  did  not  much  exceed  the  number  of 
their  illegal  seizures  during  the  one-sided  peace  which 
preceded  open  hostilities.  One  melancholy  fact  was 
demonstrated  by  these  captures  ;  and  that  was,  that  the 
two  nations  had  the  means  of  inflicting  immense  injuries 
upon  each  other.  Perhaps  no  two  people  ever  possessed 
the  power  of  doing  more  harm  to  one  another  than  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain — a  fact  which  was  partly 
verified  in  the  wrar  of  1812,  and  is  unquestionably  true 
at  the  present  time.  How  diligently  should  peace  be 
cultivated  between  two  such  nations ! 

By  the  activity  of  the  American  privateers,  the  ma 
ritime  force  of  the  country  was  brought  into  the  conflict 
rather  spontaneously  than  officially — rather  privately  than 
publicly.  Such  a  free-will  offering  was,  however,  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  character  of  the  people — it  harmonized 


THE   WAR   OF    1812.  343 

with  the  conduct  of  a  preceding  generation  in  the  trials 
of  the  Revolution ;  and  proved  that  the  strength  of  our 
republic  lies  in  the  patriotism  of  its  citizens — in  private 
enterprise  rather  than  in  public  coercion. 

But  if  the  want  of  maritime  preparation  on  the  part 
of  the  government  was  an  accident — a  condition  of 
affairs  not  necessarily  connected  with  the  genius  of  our 
institutions — there  were  other  matters  of  an  adverse  cha 
racter  which  originated  in  a  more  vital  part  of  our  po 
litical  system.  Of  these  I  will  merely  mention  the 
division  of  the  people  into  parties — a  division  which,  at 
some  stages  of  the  war,  threatened  the  government  with 
serious  embarrassment.  The  war,  as  we  have  already 
stated,  was  a  measure  of  the  democratic  party — it  was 
advocated  by  them — and,  at  its  commencement,  pretty 
generally  opposed  by  the  Federalists.  Removed  as  we 
are  in  time  from  the  prejudices  and  interests,  and  per 
sonal  preferences  and  dislikes  which,  in  those  days, 
agitated  the  actors  in  our  country,  we  are  at  liberty  to 
speak  of  the  motives — the  views  and  influences — which 
caused  some  of  them  to  advocate  the  war,  and  others 
to  condemn  it.  In  a  previous  lecture,  we  traced  the 
main  dividing  line  of  the  old  parties  in  our  country. 
Their  bloodless  warfare,  which  was  of  the  most  active 
and  vigilant  character,  impressed  its  mark  upon  the  first 
twenty-five  years  of  our  constitutional  history.  When 
the  injuries  inflicted  by  Britain  and  France  were  pressing 
severely  on  the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  the 
measures  proposed  for  its  protection — embargo — non-im 
portation — non-intercourse — war  and  all — became  mat 
ters  of  party  discussion.  Different  views  were  entertained 
of  every  measure  adopted  ;  and  when  the  conflict  began, 
the  Federalists  were,  from  one  circumstance  and  another, 
generally  arrayed  in  opposition  to  it — made  speeches, 


344 


PROGRESS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


held  conventions,  and  put  forth  addresses  condemning 
it.  Their  opposition  to  it  was  greatly  promoted  by  party 
feeling,  apart  from  its  merits  or  demerits.  For  twenty 
years  and  more,  they  had  been  discussing  the  relative 
merits  of  the  wars  between  France  and  England ;  and 
while  they  accused  the  Democrats  of  subserviency  to 
the  former,  they  themselves  were  accused  of  favouring 
too  much  the  cause  of  Great  Britain.  Without  ad 
mitting  that  either  party  was  disposed  voluntarily  to  give 
to  these  nations  a  preference  injurious  to  their  own 
country,  the  conclusion  is  legitimate,  that  these  discus 
sions  and  accusations — the  effervescence  of  partyism — 
brought  the  Federalists  gradually  into  the  attitude  of 
apologists  for  Great  Britain.  They  became  her  apologists 
even  after  the  war  was  actually  commenced.  Their 
feelings  being  also  strongly  repugnant  to  the  French, 
they  were  disposed  to  endure  much,  and  to  excuse  much 
from  England,  because  she  was  engaged  in  a  war  of 
life  and  death  with  Napoleon.  This  preference  of  the 
English  to  the  French — a  preference  originating  appa 
rently  in  accident  rather  than  in  system — when  combined 
with  party  prejudices,  led  many  in  the  United  States  to 
speak  of  the  war  as  unjust,  ill  advised,  and  most  ruinous 
to  the  country.  In  brief,  the  Federalists  opposed  the 
war  at  its  beginning,  and  all  the  time  of  its  continuance. 
As  a  party  they  were  ruined — politically  annihilated  by 
their  opposition. 

Permit  us  to  mention  a  few  details  illustrative  of  the 
course  of  their  opposition. 

First  came  the  protest  or  address  of  the  minority 
in  Congress.  Hardly  was  the  declaration  of  war  an 
nounced,  when  an  address  signed  by  thirty-five  members 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  was  circulated  over  the 
country,  the  object  of  which  was  to  prove  that  there  ex- 


THE   WAR   OF    1812.  345 

isted  no  reasonable  grounds  of  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain.  It  enumerated  the  relations 
of  our  republic  to  France  and  England,  and  represented 
the  war  as  a  measure  undertaken  to  aid  the  former.  The 
address  concludes  in  these  words: 

"At  a  crisis  of  the  world  such  as  the  present,  and 
under  impressions  such  as  these,  we  could  not  consider 
the  war  into  which  the  United  States  have  in  secret  been 
precipitated,  as  necessary,  or  required  by  any  moral 
duty  or  any  political  expediency." 

This  address  became  the  model  for  others  of  a  similar 
character,  which  were  put  forth  by  conventions,  and 
sometimes  even  by  state  legislatures. 

Next  came  the  official  papers,  gubernatorial  mes 
sages,  reports  of  committees,  &c.,  which,  in  some  of  the 
states  where  the  Federalists  prevailed,  kept  up  an  in 
cessant  examination  of  the  causes  of  the  war.  The 
men  whose  minds  these  documents  expressed,  were  con 
tinually  finding  fault  with  the  administration.  They 
argued  instead  of  fighting ;  and  the  Democrats  con 
demned  both  their  logic  and  their  patriotism. 

After  all  this  artillery  was  fired  off,  the  Hartford  Con 
vention  made  its  appearance,  and  was  among  the  last  of 
the  public  party  efforts  against  the  war.  That  renowned 
assembly,  composed  of  delegates  from  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut,  has  been  the  most  se 
verely  condemned  of  all  the  party  movements  of  our 
country.  What  was  its  origin  and  object?  The  Pre 
sident  of  the  United  States,  through  his  proper  officers, 
had  made  a  requisition  upon  Massachusetts  for  a  portion 
of  her  militia.  The  authorities  of  that  state  practically 
resolved  to  obey  the  constitution  of  the  United  States 
as  they  understood  it ;  and  being  Federalists,  they  did 
not  understand  it  to  authorize  the  President,  of  his  own 


346  PROGRESS   OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

accord,  to  call  the  militia  of  a  state  into  the  field,  and 
place  them  under  the  command  of  officers  of  his  own 
appointment.  The  Governor  of  Massachusetts  then 
wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  war  in  substance  as  follows : 

SIR  : — We  wdll  not  subject  our  militia  to  the  control 
of  the  President.  We  want  them  for  our  own  defence, 
and  will  employ  them  to  fight  as  \ve  see  proper.  Will 
the  general  government  pay  their  expenses  ? 

Your  most  obedient  servant,  &c. 

To  this  the  Secretary  of  war  replied  in  substance : 

SIR  : — If  you  will  fight  only  in  your  owrn  way,  fight 
on.  The  general  government  will  not  pay  your  ex 
penses.  Your  most  obedient  servant,  &c. 

The  Federalists  declared  the  answer  of  the  secretary 
to  be  very  "  alarming  ;"  and  the  Hartford  Convention  was 
immediately  called  to  deliberate  upon  the  concerns  of 
New  England  in  particular,  and  upon  the  welfare  of  the 
United  States  in  general.  The  Convention  condemned 
the  conduct  of  the  general  government — accused  it  of 
violating  the  constitution — discussed  the  right  of  the 
president  to  call  out  and  control  the  militia  of  a  state — 
proposed  divers  amendments  to  the  constitution,  of  a 
very  democratic  character — and  talked  quite  eloquently 
in  the  language  of  Nullification.  These  proceedings 
were  denounced  at  the  time  by  the  people  of  other  sec 
tions  of  the  country,  in  the  most  pointed  and  energetic 
terms.  Even  on  the  very  soil  where  they  originated, 
they  were  too  ultra ;  and  the  eloquent  protests  of  the 
minorities  in  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  energetically  condemned  the  whole  business.* 

*  The  protest  of  the  minority  of  the  Senate  held  the  following  Ian- 
guage  : 


THE   WAR    OF    1812.  347 

This  course  of  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Fede 
ralists  was  an  adverse  circumstance ;  but  it  was  a  cir 
cumstance  which  had  its  origin  deep  in  our  political 
system.  It  was  adverse,  because  it  sometimes  caused 
serious  embarrassment  to  the  general  government.  It 
thwarted  the  measures  of  the  administration,  and  dimi 
nished  the  means  of  carrying  on  the  war  after  it  wras 
commenced.  It  was  also  an  adverse  circumstance  be 
cause  it  encouraged  the  enemy  to  undertake  military 
operations  in  hopes  of  profiting  by  this  dissatisfaction. 
For  example,  the  expedition  of  the  British  to  Lake 
Champlain,  with  the  design  of  proceeding  to  the  Hudson 
and  New  York,  was  commenced  in  the  expectation  on 
their  part,  that  if  such  a  military  intersection  of  the 
country  could  be  effected,  the  New  England  states, 
where  the  Federalists  prevailed,  would  readily  dissolve 
their  connexion  with  the  Union,  and  make  a  separate 
peace.  But  Plattsburg  and  M'Donough's  fleet  arrested 

<«******  Our  country  is  engaged  in  a  just  and  (of  late)  su-c- 
cessful  war.  Our  resources  are  abundant,  our  government  is  adequate, 
and  our  citizens  are  brave,  enterprising,  and  intelligent.  Union  alone 
can  secure  us  the  blessings  of  peace.  While  our  commissioners  are 
negotiating  with  the  most  earnest  solicitude  for  their  country's  wel 
fare — while  our  army  and  navy  are  defending  the  soil,  and  maintaining 
the  honour  and  glory  of  our  country — while  our  brave  yeomanry  are 
rushing  like  a  torrent  from  the  mountains  to  the  shore  to  meet  and 
repel  the  invader,  and  the  spirit  of  party  is  becoming  absorbed  in  the 
spirit  of  patriotism,  why  should  Massachusetts,  great,  powerful,  re 
spectable  Massachusetts,  form  a  combination  which  will  defeat  the 
hopes  of  the  friends  of  peace,  and  aid  and  encourage  a  powerful  and 
vindictive  enemy?  *****  Ambition  has  destroyed  every  other  re 
public  on  earth.  The  United  States  stand  alone,  like  a  solitary  rock, 
in  the  midst  of  the  ocean,  surrounded  and  assailed  by  storms  and  tem 
pests.  In  vain  may  we  look  for  aid,  except  from  union,  energy,  and 
Heaven  ;  apprehending  and  believing  that  from  neither  of  these  sources 
can  we  expect  it  so  long  as  we  indulge  in  the  adoption  of  such  reso 
lutions,"  (the  resolutions  convoking  the  Hartford  Convention)  "  we 
have  prepared  and  signed  the  foregoing  protest." 


348  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

the  expedition,  and  delivered  New  England  from  the 
temptation  of  becoming  a  province  of  the  British  Empire. 

The  opposition  of  the  Federalists  was  also  an  adverse 
circumstance,  because  its  natural  effect  was  to  diminish 
the  number  of  those  who  would  otherwise  have  hastened 
to  the  defence  of  their  country.  In  other  words,  its  ten 
dency  was  to  lessen  the  efficient  power  of  the  nation. 
It  did  lessen  it ;  and  it  often  did  so  in  such  an  indirect 
manner,  and  by  such  a  process,  that  it  was  difficult  to 
trace  the  connexion  between  the  federal  opposition  and 
the  diminution  of  the  force  of  the  country,  while  it  was 
most  certain  that  such  a  connexion  existed.  We  might 
cite  many  examples  illustrative  of  this  remote  and  in 
direct  influence.  Take  the  following : 

When  a  large  body  of  Americans  under  General  Van 
Rensselaer  crossed  into  Canada,  and  became  engaged 
in  the  battle  of  Queenstown,  the  general  returned  to  the 
American  side  of  the  river  to  hasten  the  passage  of  the 
troops  who  were  to  come  to  his  assistance.  He  found 
them  reading  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  to 
find  out  whether  it  was  lawful  to  cross  the  boundary, 
and  go  into  Canada,  in  order  to  fight  the  British.  They 
didn't  go  ;  they  were  constitutional  cowards.  Was  there 
any  connexion  between  their  constitutional  scruples  and 
the  steady  opposition  of  the  Federalists  to  the  war  ? 

This  party  opposition  had,  however,  an  origin  deep 
in  our  political  system.  It  was  a  result — a  fact — an  oc 
currence  which  in  its  nature  belongs  to  our  government. 
I  do  not  mean  that  the  particular  opposition  of  the  Fe 
deralists  in  that  case  was  necessarily  connected  with  the 
nature  of  our  government ;  but  I  mean  that  from  the 
structure  of  our  political  system — from  the  large  amount 
of  liberty  here  enjoyed — from  the  free  discussion  of  all 
public  matters — from  the  collision  of  different  interests — 


THE    WAR   OF    1812.  349 

from  the  accident  of  personal  preferences — from  the  or 
dinary  imperfections  of  human  nature,  that  give  rise  to 
different  opinions  among  honest  and  enlightened  men — 
from  all  these  sources  an  opposition  will  perhaps  always 
be  organized  against  the  leading  measures  of  our  go 
vernment.  From  these  sources  an  opposition  has  in  fact 
always  been  formed  to  the  men  at  the  head  of  the  re 
public,  and  "judging  of  the  future  by  the  past,"  we  are 
not  to  expect  unanimity  in  time  to  come.  Partyism — 
differences  of  opinion  as  to  public  measures  both  of 
peace  and  war — may  therefore  be  set  down  as  inseparable 
from  the  form  of  our  government.  This  is  what  is  to 
be  understood  when  it  is  said  that  the  opposition  of  the 
Federalists  to  the  war  of  1812  had  an  origin  deep  in 
our  political  system.  It  sprang  from  the  sources  that 
gave  rise  to  all  the  party  contests  that  have  occurred  from 
the  foundation  of  the  government  to  the  present  hour. 
The  fall  of  the  party  which  in  our  own  country  opposed 
the  war  is,  however,  a  lesson  full  of  instruction  and 
warning  to  those  who,  in  time  to  come,  may  be  disposed 
to  resist  the  government  in  its  collisions  with  foreign 
nations.  Such  conduct  will  not  be  repeated. 

The  patriotism  of  the  people  finally  rejected  the  tram 
mels  of  party ;  many  of  the  Federalists  came  into  the 
support  of  the  war ;  and  the  nation  appeared  to  grow 
stronger  as  the  contest  progressed. 

VI.  But  the  struggle  in  America  was  materially  af 
fected  by  the  change  of  affairs  in  Europe. 

When  the  war  was  declared,  Napoleon  was  on  his 
way  to  Russia,  with  half  a  million  of  soldiers,  to  compel 
its  emperor  to  adopt  the  continental  system.  The  ter 
rible  reverses  of  that  campaign  prepared  the  way  for  the 
destruction  of  his  power;  and,  after  a  year  of  unpa 
ralleled  fighting,  all  Europe  was  congregated  at  Paris ; 


350  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

the  emperor  abdicated,  and  in  the  spring  of  1814  went 
an  exile  to  Elba.  These  events  extended  their  influence 
to  American  affairs,  and  cut  off,  or  rather  removed,  the 
causes  of  the  war.  The  impressment  of  American  sea 
men,  and  the  paper  blockades  which  had  destroyed  our 
commerce,  were,  for  the  time,  abandoned  by  Great  Bri 
tain.  She  had,  indeed,  soon  after  the  war  commenced, 
repealed  her  orders  in  council  which  had  been  so  de 
structive  to  American  commerce ;  and  now  that  the  strug 
gle  with  France  was  ended,  there  was  a  probability  that 
blockading  the  continent  of  Europe  by  the  mere  orders 
of  the  British  cabinet,  would  not  be  soon  repeated. 

There  was,  therefore,  no  longer  any  direct  object  to 
be  gained  by  a  continuation  of  the  contest.  For  the 
abstract  right  was  now  all  that  remained  to  fight  about, 
and  both  nations  wrere  too  much  given  to  matter  of  fact 
to  spend  blood  and  treasure  for  a  theory.  With  re 
gard  to  impressment  and  blockade,  it  was  not  the  the 
ory,  but  the  'practice  wrhich  had  given  offence  to  the 
Americans ;  and  when  the  British  government,  at  the 
fall  of  Napoleon,  discontinued  the  practice,  or  rather 
declared  its  willingness,  for  the  time  being,  to  let  Ame 
rican  ships  go  where  they  chose  without  being  searched, 
there  was  no  insuperable  difficulty  in  procuring  a  ces 
sation  of  hostilities.  Accordingly,  the  treaty  of  Ghent, 
restoring  peace  between  the  two  nations,  was  negotiated 
to  a  conclusion,  and  signed  in  December  1814.  Pre 
viously,  however,  to  this  result,  the  United  States  being 
left  alone  to  fight  against  Great  Britain,  made  prepara 
tions  on  a  more  extensive  scale  for  continuing  hostilities. 
The  pillaging  warfare  of  the  British  in  the  bay  and  rivers 
of  the  Chesapeake,  and  at  other  points,  excited  the 
Americans  to  increased  exertions,  and  brought  them 
with  greater  earnestness  into  the  contest.  The  vigour 


THE   WAR   OF    1812.  351 

and  energy  with  which  they  now  entered  upon  it,  showed 
that  they  were  just  beginning  to  fight ;  and  also  proved 
the  important  fact,  that  OUR  GOVERNMENT  is  ABLE  TO 

RALLY  THE  FORCE  OF  THE  NATION  IN  DEFENCE  OF  ITS 
RIGHTS. 

This  last  fact  is  one  of  much  interest  to  the  friends 
of  our  republican  system.  Indeed,  the  strength  of  the 
nation  seemed  to  accumulate  with  the  progress  of  the 
war ;  and  though  the  local  militia  on  land,  and  the  pri 
vateers  at  sea,  acted  rather  "  on  their  own  hook"  than 
under  the  control  of  the  government,  they  nevertheless 
brought  the  force  of  the  nation  into  the  contest.  The 
disaffection  arising  from  party  prejudices  greatly  sub 
sided  before  the  treaty  of  peace,  or  was  rebuked  in  such 
a  manner  that  it  was  unable  to  prevent  the  efficient  and 
united  action  of  the  American  people.  This  was  just 
the  point  in  which  it  was  feared  the  weakness  of  the  re 
public  lay.  The  power  of  democracy  in  America  is  so 
much  diffused — dispersed — diluted — and  portioned  out 
among  individuals,  and  districts,  and  parties,  and  states, 
that  there  is  apparently  a  want  of  centralization,  of 
combined  action.  But  the  apprehensions  of  weakness 
arising  from  this  dispersion,  were  themselves  dispersed 
by  the  fact,  that  in  the  war  of  1812  the  whole  country, 
as  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution,  moved  to  the  work  of 
defence.  The  irruptions  of  the  British  into  the  ter 
ritory  of  the  United  States  were,  with  the  exception  of 
the  inroad  upon  Washington  City,  attended  with  uniform 
defeat.  Even  the  veteran  soldiers  of  Wellington,  who 
had  driven  the  French  from  Spain,  were  unsuccessful 
both  at  Plattsburg  and  Orleans.  These  results,  and  the 
results  of  the  whole  war,  intimated  that  there  is  a  suf 
ficient  intelligence  in  our  republic  to  direct  its  foreign 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

affairs,  and  sufficient  power  to  protect  itself  against  fo 
reign  foes.  The  federative  system  proved  itself  able  to 
bring  the  people  up  to  the  successful  defence  of  their 
country. 

Our  only  object  in  presenting  this  idea  is  to  show 
that  a  democracy — the  democracy  of  the  United  States — 
is  capable  of  taking  care  of  itself,  and  protecting  itself 
against  aggressions  from  without.  It  is  frequently  urged, 
that  though  the  people  of  a  nation  may  be  able  to  govern 
themselves,  yet  in  their  foreign  relations  and  foreign 
wars  they  need  the  wisdom  of  an  aristocracy  to  direct 
their  affairs,  and  the  power  of  a  monarch  to  concentrate 
their  energies.  But  the  events  of  the  war  of  1812 
proved  that  the  centralizing  genius  of  a  monarch  is  not 
needed  to  rally  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  the 
defence  of  their  rights.  Much  less  is  the  wisdom  of  an 
aristocracy  needed  to  direct  the  affairs  of  this  people. 
They  comprehend  their  foreign  relations.  They  are  also 
acquainted  with  their  own  internal  resources  ;  and  their 
public  men  are  not  inferior  to  any  titled  aristocracy  of 
any  nation,  either  in  the  intelligence  or  the  ability  to 
direct  the  external  affairs  of  the  country.  If  great  errors 
wTere  committed  at  the  commencement  of  the  war  of 
1812,  a  despot  and  an  aristocracy  may  commit,  and 
often  have  committed  still  more  grievous  errors  in  the 
management  of  public  affairs.  We  do  not  say  that  a 
republic  can  manage  its  foreign  relations  better  than  a 
monarchy,  or  conduct  its  wars  with  more  energy  than  a 
despotism ;  nor  do  we  say  that  the  mere  fact,  that  our 
republic  can  concentrate  its  energies  against  a  foreign 
enemy,  is  any  proof  of  the  superiority  of  our  institutions. 
Napoleon  concentrated  the  energies  of  France,  and 
Alexander  those  of  Russia.  Other  despots  have  done 


THE   WAR    OF    1812.  353 

the  same.  We  do  not  claim  for  our  republic  any  su 
periority  in  this  respect.  All  that  we  say  is  that  our 
system  of  institutions  operates  in  such  a  manner  that  it 
brings  the  force  of  the  nation  to  the  protection  of  the 
nation's  rights.  If,  in  national  defence,  our  republic  is 
not  superior  to  a  monarchy,  it  has  proved  itself  not  to  be 
inferior. 

But  what  was  gained  by  the  war  of  1812  ?  Did  it 
prove  that  a  democracy  can  negotiate  as  well  as  fight  ? 
I  have  said  that  the  fall  of  Napoleon  and  the  cessation 
of  the  wars  in  Europe,  prepared  the  way  for  peace  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.  But  the 
treaty  of  Ghent,  by  which  that  peace  was  concluded, 
did  not  make  any  provision  upon  the  subject  of  neutral 
rights.  The  abstract  questions  about  blockades  and 
the  right  of  search  were  passed  over  in  silence,  the  un 
derstanding  between  the  two  governments  being  that 
neither  of  these  subjects  would  give  any  trouble  so  long 
as  Europe  remained  in  peace.  It  has  been  frequently 
said  that  the  United  States  failed  in  the  object  of  the 
war,  because  they  procured  no  adjustment  of  these 
questions.  But  our  government,  as  already  observed, 
did  not  think  it  advisable  to  embarrass  the  negotiations 
for  peace  by  pressing  Great  Britain  to  acknowledge 
rights  that  were  in  no  immediate  danger.  It  is  certainly 
a  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that  in  thus  passing  the 
matter  over  in  silence,  the  Americans  yielded  to  Great 
Britain  the  right  of  searching  their  ships,  and  removing 
from  them  such  individuals  as  the  searching  officer  might 
choose  to  pronounce  British  subjects.  The  United  States, 
so  far  from  yielding  upon  this  point,  were  firmly  re 
solved,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  never  to  submit  to  such 
a  practice — a  resolution  which  has  not  been  changed  by 

2G* 


354  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

the  long  peace  of  more  than  thirty  years.  They  were 
then  of  the  opinion,  and  they  are  now  of  the  opinion 
that  the  only  admissible  rule  upon  the  subject  is,  that 
seamen  on  board  of  an  American  vessel  shall  be  pro 
tected  by  the  American  flag.*  The  honour  of  the  na 
tion,  and  the  protection  it  owes  to  its  citizens,  alike  re 
quire  that  this  rule,  and  no  other,  shall  be  adopted  upon 
the  subject. 

We  have  now  exhibited  an  example  illustrative  of 
the  practical  operation  of  our  republic  where  its  external 
affairs  are  concerned.  What  is  the  result  ?  It  may  be 
summed  up  in  a  single  sentence:  The  force  of  the' nation 
is  readily  concentrated  in  defence  of  its  rights.  The 
ancient  Greek  republic  was  formed  by  a  union  ^f  states  ; 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  in  his 
speech  on  the  treaty  of  Washington,  delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  on  the  6th  and  7th  of  April,  1846,  states  the  present 
position  of  the  subject  of  impressment  in  strong  and  concise  terms. 
After  quoting  from  an  official  communication  from  himself,  when 
secretary  of  state,  to  the  British  minister,  the  following  declaration, 

"  IN  EVERY  REGULARLY  DOCUMENTED  AMERICAN  ^VJGSSEL,  THE  CREW 
WHO  NAVIGATE  IT  WILL  FIND  THEIR  PROTECTION  IN  THE  FLAG  THAT  IS 

OVER  THEM,"  he  says : 

"  This  declaration  will  stand.  Not  on  account  of  any  particular  ability 
displayed  in  the  letter  with  which  it  concludes,  still  less  on  account 
of  the  name  that  subscribed  it.  But  it  will  stand  because  it  announces 
the  true  principles  of  public  law;  because  it  announces  the  great  doc 
trine  of  the  equality  and  independence  of  nations  upon  the  seas,  and 
because  it  announces  the  determination  of  the  government  and  the 
people  of  the  United  States  to  uphold  those  principles,  and  to  main 
tain  that  doctrine  through  good  report  and  through  evil  report  for  ever. 
We  shall  negotiate  no  more,  nor  attempt  to  negotiate  more  about  im 
pressment.  We  shall  not  treat  hereafter  of  its  limitation  to  parallels 
of  latitude  and  longitude.  We  shall  not  treat  of  its  allowance  or  dis 
allowance  in  broad  seas  or  narrow  seas.  We  shall  think  no  more  of 
stipulating  for  exemption  from  its  exercise  of  some  of  the  persons 
composing  crews.  Henceforth  the  deck  of  every  American  vessel  is 
inaccessible  for  any  such  purpose.  It  is  protected,  guarded,  defended 
by  the  declaration  I  have  read  ;  and  that  declaration  will  stand." 


THE   WAR    OF    1812.  355 

but  in  the  hour  of  attack  from  without,  it  was  unable  to 
concentrate  its  energies.  Its  democracy  was  too  dif 
fused — too  local — and  it  ceased  to  be  a  democracy. 
The  United  States,  however,  have  shown  their  ability  to 
maintain  themselves  against  aggressions  from  without. 
This  was  manifested  by  the  main  facts,  phases,  and  re 
sults  of  the  collision  with  Great  Britain.  Our  government 
preserved,  or  rather  fought  its  way  into,  a  respectable 
position  among  the  nations.  It  is  no  matter  whether  its 
power  was  brought  into  the  contest  by  its  own  direct 
acts  as  a  government,  or  by  the  voluntary  acts  of  the 
people.  In  either  point  of  view  the  truth  is  established, 
that  the  republican  system  existing  in  America,  though 
weak  inform,  is  strong  in  fact. 

Do  you  ask  wherein  its  great  strength  lies?  We 
reply  not  in  those  bearded  Sampsons — the  kings  ap 
pointed  by  Heaven  to  rule.  There  is  here  a  diffused 
strength — diffused  along  the  Atlantic — diffused  through 
the  pine,  and  oak,  and  hickory  woods  of  the  mountains — 
diffused  all  over  the  great  West — found  on  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  and  giving  signs  of  life  in  the  valley  of  the  Co 
lumbia.  And  yet  the  genius  of  our  institutions  is  such 
that  this  strength,  dispersed  over  such  a  space,  and 
through  the  heads  and  hearts  and  muscle  of  a  widely 
scattered  democracy,  can  nevertheless  be  readily  con 
centrated  in  defence  of  the  nation.  The  people  here 
voluntarily — spontaneously — patriotically  put  forth  those 
defensive  exertions  which  in  monarchies  and  despotisms 
are  obtained  by  coercion.  Here  is  power — force — the 
energy  of  a  governing  people.  Here  lies  the  strength 
of  our  republic.  It  has  obeyed  the  golden  rule ;  and  it 
has  the  power  to  compel  other  nations  to  obey  it,  so  far 
as  to  do  justice  to  the  American  people. 


356  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

These  considerations  warrant  us  in  indulging  pleasing 
hopes  of  the  permanence  of  our  political  system.  They 
give  us  such  a  faith,  because  they  are  evidences — prac 
tical  proofs  of  the  moral  force  of  the  people — proofs  of 
their  intelligence  and  patriotism.  Without  this  intelli 
gence  and  patriotism,  our  government  is  weak.  With 
them,  it  will  endure  through  long  ages  to  come. 


LECTURE  X. 

GEOGRAPHICAL  EXTENSION  — CONSERVATIVE  IN 
FLUENCES, 

Many  peculiarities  of  the  United  States  attributable  to  the  condition 
of  the  natives  and  the  great  extent  of  country  in  North  America — 
Geographical  extension :  I.  Limits  of  the  United  States  at  the  close 
of  the  Revolution — Settlement  of  the  region  between  the  Allegha- 
nies  and  the  Mississippi — The  fertility  of  the  country  and  the  rapid 
increase  of  its  population  —  The  new  states  formed  between  the 
Alleghany  Mountains  and  Mississippi  river;  II.  The  Louisiana 
purchase — Its  extent — Circumstances  which  gave  it  to  the  United 
States — The  advantages  of  this  acquisition;  III.  The  acquisition 
of  Florida — Its  addition  furnishes  the  United  States  a  natural  boun 
dary  on  the  south;  IV.  The  annexation  of  Texas — Statement  of 
the  arguments  upon  the  question  of  its  admission — Benefits  derived 
from  these  several  acquisitions  of  territory ;  V.  Extension  of  the 
United  States  to  the  Pacific — Oregon  and  its  limits — Its  benefit  to 
the  United  States  and  to  the  progress  of  civilization — Summary  of 
the  geographical  additions  to  the  Union. 

Conservative  influences — They  are  moral,  political,  and  mechanical  : 
I.  The  moral  influences  (1),  Education  (2),  Religion  (3),  Uniformity 
of  laws,  languages,  and  habits;  II.  The  political  influences  (1),  The 
federative  system  (2),  The  ballot-box  ;  III.  The  material  influences 
(1),  The  power  of  steam  (2),  The  public  press  (3),  Improvements  in 
the  arts — Effect  of  these  combined  influences  upon  the  permanence 
of  our  republican  system — Conclusion. 

WHAT  has  been  the  operation  of  the  republican  sys 
tem  of  the  United  States?  What  results  have  been 
reached  in  the  time  that  is  past,  and  what  results  are  to 
be  expected  in  the  time  that  is  to  come  ?  A  trial  of 
seventy  years  has  proved  the  practicability  of  the  system. 
Our  government  is  no  longer  an  experiment.  Through 
war  and  peace,  through  prosperity  and  through  adversity, 
through  evil  report  and  through  good  report,  through 


358  PROGRESS   OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

perils  within  and  perils  without,  it  has  moved  steadily 
onward,  extending  in  territory  and  growing  in  power. 
Numerically,  the  population  has  increased  from  three  to 
twenty  millions,  since  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  signed.  Geographically,  the  limits — the  actual 
settled  limits  of  the  country — have  been  removed  from 
the  ridge  of  the  Alleghanies  to  the  base  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Over  this  vast  space,  and  among  all  these 
millions,  the  institutions  of  our  country  have  become 
established,  determined — and,  as  we  trust,  permanent. 

Some  parts  of  the  world  are  governed  too  much,  and 
others  too  little — no  very  sage  remark  it  is  true — but  it 
is  made  for  the  purpose  of  adding  that  the  republic  of 
the  United  States  is  placed  midway  between  despotism 
and  anarchy.  Its  position  is  at  that  point  where  dis 
order  yields  to  government,  and  where  tyranny — the 
sovereign  rule  of  legitimacy — has  not  yet  commenced. 
Leaving  man  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  native  energy, 
it  surrounds  him  with  the  guardianship  of  law.  The 
circumstances  which  gave  it  this  position  are  to  be  found 
partly  in  the  history  of  the  European  race  during  the 
last  two  thousand  years,  and  partly  in  the  peculiar  con 
dition  of  North  America.  A  new  form  of  political 
organization,  originating  in  both  these  sources,  has  here 
developed  itself.  We  call  it  new,  because  in  its  main 
essential  features  there  is  nothing  in  the  Old  World  with 
which  to  compare  it.  If  we  look  to  the  very  Old 
World — to  Asia,  the  cradle  of  the  human  race — there  is 
not  found  in  all  its  revolutions  and  changes  any  political 
system  similar  to  our  own.  There,  when  the  curtain 
rises,  venerable  patriarchs  appear  upon  the  stage — the 
land  is  soon  covered  with  a  population — all  over  it  there 
are  husbands  with  numerous  wives  and  little  ones,  and 
flocks  and  herds.  Their  o-overnment  is  their  own — • 


.         GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  359 

sometimes  patriarchal — generally  despotic  —  never  re 
publican.  If  \ve  look  to  Europe — another  division  of 
the  Old  World — in  what  corner  of  its  surface,  or  in  what 
age  of  its  history  do  we  find  a  political  organization 
similar  to  the  United  States.  It  had  its  Grecians  and  its 
Romans  in  olden  times,  and  its  Swiss  and  its  Hollanders 
in  more  modern  days ;  but  its  modern  republics  were 
aristocracies,  and  its  ancient  republics  were  small  states, 
which,  when  they  grew7  to  the  size  of  a  Massachusetts 
or  a  Kentucky,  passed  into  regal  or  imperial  govern 
ments.  The  legitimacy  of  Europe  has  generally  had  the 
ascendency  over  its  democracy.  Tacitus,  indeed,  says 
some  wondrously  democratic  things  of  those  Indians, 
the  ancient  Germans — and  says  them  too  in  good  classic 
Latin  ;  but  his  little  tract  on  the  «  manners  of  the  Ger 
mans"  is  perhaps  as  veracious  as  the  history  of  Robinson 
Crusoe.  We  cannot  forget  that  it  wras  written  by  the 
historian  who  describes  the  Jews  as  idolaters  who  wor 
shipped  asses,  and  made  statues  of  swine.  But  without 
criticising  Tacitus,  we  are  warranted  in  saying  that  Eu 
rope  has  had  its  own  peculiar  circumstances,  and  its 
own  political  organization.  Its  feudal  system,  its  early 
barbarism,  and  its  later  science,  were  its  own.  North 
America  has  also  had  and  still  has  its  peculiar  circum 
stances,  and  now  has  its  peculiar  political  organization. 
Like  other  portions  of  the  world — like  Asia  and  Eu 
rope — it  has  fish  of  its  own — birds  of  its  own — cane- 
brakes  of  its  own,  and  a  political  system  of  its  own. 
True,  its  present  possessors,  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  Celtic 
race,  brought  their  mills,  their  spades,  their  spelling- 
books,  and  their  Bibles  from  the  houses  of  their  fathers 
beyond  the  water ;  but  when  arrived  here  they  adapted 
themselves  to  the  circumstances  of  the  country.  They 
fought  the  Indians,  because  the  Indians  wrere  here.  They 


360  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

established  republics,  because  they  came  here  to  escape 
from  oppression.  They  rapidly  filled  the  country,  be 
cause  wealth,  comfort,  and  a  good  conscience  beckoned 
them  hither.  They  modelled  their  government  accord 
ing  to  their  own  washes,  because  here  there  were  no 
standing  armies — no  crowned  heads — no  monarchical 
institutions  to  interfere  with  their  democratic  notions. 
The  government  they  established  accordingly  received 
its  peculiar  form  from  the  ideas  they  imported,  and  from 
the  circumstances  in  which  they  found  themselves  when 
here.  Among  these  circumstances,  the  condition  of  the 
natives,  and  the  immense  extent  of  uncultivated  country, 
have  had  a  most  marked  effect  upon  our  republican 
system. 

We  have  said  that  there  were  Indians  here  —  tall, 
dusky  fellows,  with  painted  faces,  copper-coloured  skins, 
and  long  straight  black  hair.  But  the  red  men  gradually 
melted  away  before  the  civilization  that  was  imported 
from  Europe.  Cities  rose  where  their  wigwams  once 
stood ;  the  flail  was  heard  where  their  hunting-grounds 
had  been  ;  and  new  expansions — new  facts  in  character, 
in  politics,  and  in  genius,  were  made  known.  From 
the  condition  of  the  country — from  the  small  number  of 
its  aboriginal  inhabitants  —  and  from  the  enterprising 
character  of  the  emigrants — from  their  wants,  wishes, 
and  perseverance,  there  was,  after  the  first  settlements 
along  the  Atlantic,  a  continual  advancement  of  the  Eu 
ropeans — an  unceasing  progress — a  pushing  forward  into 
the  forests  of  this  vast  continent.  The  scattered  natives 
gave  place  to  the  millions  of  white  men.  Hence,  there 
has  been  a  constant  addition  to  the  settled,  cultivated 
part  of  the  country.  The  United  States  have  thus  pro 
gressed  not  merely  numerically,  but  also  geographically. 
They  have  not  only  added  millions  of  people,  but  mil- 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  361 

lions  of  cultivated  acres  to  the  old  thirteen  states.  They 
have  increased  in  political  knowledge,  and  they  have 
also  increased  in  geographical  knowledge. 

This  geographical  progress  will  claim  much  of  our 
attention  in  the  present  lecture. 

I.  Let  us  first  examine  a  little  into  the  territorial  ex 
tent  of  the  United  States  at  the  organization  of  the  go 
vernment.  What  were  then  its  inhabited  limits  ?  Its 
actually  settled — tamed — cultivated  part?  And  what 
were  then  its  paper  boundaries — its  diplomatic  extent,  as 
regulated  by  the  treaties  which  recognised  our  inde 
pendence.  At  present  the  territory  of  the  United  States 
reaches  across  the  continent,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  and  from  the  lakes  on  the  north  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  on  the  south.  How  has  it  acquired  this  ex 
pansion,  and  what  have  been  the  main  steps  of  its 
onward  territorial  march  ?  To  answer  such  questions 
permit  us  to  act  the  geographer  for  a  few  minutes. 
North  America,  in  regard  to  its  natural  features,  exhibits 
four  grand  divisions :  the  northern,  the  eastern,  and  the 
western  declivities,  and  the  great  valley  of  the  interior. 
The  first  of  these  embraces  all  that  region  whose  waters, 
flowing  towrards  the  north  and  northeast,  empty  them 
selves  into  the  Arctic  Ocean  and  Hudson's  bay.  This 
forms  the  great  hunting-ground  of  the  fur  companies, 
and  is  perhaps  unsuited  to  the  permanent  residence  of  a 
numerous  population,  or  to  the  existence  of  a  separate 
national  government.  The  second  declivity  is  that  slope 
whose  waters,  flowing  from  the  eastern  side  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  and  from  the  great  lakes  on  the  north,  pour 
themselves  into  the  Atlantic  ocean.  The  western  de 
clivity  dips  from  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to 
the  Pacific,  and  sends  most  of  its  waters  to  the  ocean  by 
the  Colorado  and  Columbia  rivers.  The  great  region 


362  PROGRESS    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

• 

of  the  interior,  generally  called  the  Mississippi  valley, 
contains  all  the  country  between  the  Alleghany  and 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  sends  its  streams  southward  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  This  last  is  by  far  the  most  fertile 
and  luxuriant  portion  of  North  America,  and  in  it  the 
greatest  expansion  of  the  United  States  has  taken  place. 
Of  these  four  divisions,  the  eastern  declivity  was  the 
region  where  our  republican  institutions  were  first  planted. 
The  adventurers  from  Europe,  who  came  hither  to  seek 
repose  and  freedom,  and  wealth,  and  new  homes,  dis 
persed  themselves  along  the  Atlantic  border,  and  gradu 
ally  pushed  Westward  to  the  Alleghanies.  This  ridge 
of  hills,  rising  in  Georgia  and  running  towards  the 
northeast,  adapts  its  zigzags  nearly  to  those  of  the  At 
lantic  until  it  gets  round  the  head  waters  of  the  Susque- 
hanna,  when  it  sweeps  still  more  to  the  northeast,  and 
loses  itself  in  the  Green  Mountains,  and  among  the  un 
chained  hills  of  New  England.  At  the  time  of  the  Re 
volution,  this  line  of  heights  was  the  western  boundary 
of  the  inhabited  part  of  the  country.  A  few  English 
settlements  had  been  made  on  the  western  side  of  it,  at 
Pittsburgh,  and  at  other  points ;  but  they  were  yet  in 
their  infancy,  and  were  mere  experiments  of  hardy  and 
adventurous  pioneers.  The  "  backwoods"  began,  in 
those  days,  at  the  Alleghanies  ;  and  the  country  between 
these  hills  and  the  Atlantic  coast,  contained  the  main 
body  of  the  men  who  did  the  work  of  the  Revolution. 
But  if  the  Atlantic  declivity  wras  at  that  time  the  real 
and  actual  area  of  the  United  States,  the  prospective,  or 
diplomatic  boundary,  lay  far  west  of  the  Alleghanies. 
Let  us  see  where  this  nominal  boundary-line  was  esta 
blished,  and  then  trace  the  general  course  of  affairs  by 
which  it  became,  and  again  ceased  to  be,  the  actual 
limits  of  our  republic. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  363 

We  have  already  stated  that  many  of  the  colonies, 
which  were  planted  on  the  Atlantic,  extended  their  kite- 
like  tails,  by  charter,  westward  to  the  Pacific.  Such 
was  the  western  limit  assigned  to  Georgia,  the  Carolinas, 
Virginia,  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and  New  York, 
in  all  the  public  charters  and  documents  referring  to 
their  geography.  On  the  other  hand,  Maryland,  Penn 
sylvania,  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  Rhode  Island,  and 
New  Hampshire,  were,  from  time  to  time,  carved  out 
of  the  region  originally  included  within  the  chartered 
limits  of  Virginia  and  Massachusetts,  and  boundaries 
were  assigned  to  them  nearly  or  altogether  coinciding 
with  those  which  they  at  present  have.  The  country 
west  of  them  was  theoretically  retained  by  the  colonies 
from  which  they  had  been  taken.  We  say  theoretically, 
for  actually  Pennsylvania  was,  at  the  time  of  the  Revo 
lution,  inhabited  as  far  towards  the  west  as  Virginia.  It 
is  unnecessary  to  explain  the  fact,  that  this  ocean  limi 
tation  towards  the  west  was  assigned  in  utter  ignorance 
of  the  geography  of  the  country.  The  Pacific  was  sup 
posed  to  be  about  where  the  Alleghanies  were  subse 
quently  found — an  assertion  which  is  confirmed  by  nu 
merous  incidents,  and,  among  others,  by  the  fact  that 
Smith — Captain  John  Smith  we  mean — wras  searching 
for  that  ocean  along  the  head  waters  of  the  James  River, 
when  Powhattan  caught  him  and  sent  him  back,  telling 
him  that  the  Pacific  ocean  was  not  in  those  parts. 

But  Smith  died,  and  Powhattan  died,  and  all  that 
generation  died ;  new  actors  appeared  upon  the  stage ; 
the  progress  of  discovery  towards  the  west  continued — 
slowly  indeed — but  still  it  continued — and  the  French 
finally  penetrated  into  the  great  valley  of  the  interior. 
They  crossed  from  the  lakes  on  the  northwest,  and  came 
to  the  Mississsippi,  down  which  they  descended  to  the 


364  PROGRESS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Gulf  of  Mexico.  By  virtue  of  these  discoveries,  France 
put  in  a  claim  to  the  valley,  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
great  interior  region  between  the  Alleghany  and  Rocky 
Mountains.  This  country  she  erected  into  a  territorial 
government,  and  named  it  Louisiana,  in  honour  of  the 
divinely-commissioned  Louis  XIV.  French  adventurers 
penetrated  into  it,  and  formed  settlements  at  Orleans,  at 
Natchez,  at  Vincennes,  and  at  other  points,  promising 
themselves  rich  treasures  of  private  gain,  and  the  ad 
dition  of  a  western  empire  to  the  mother  country.  No 
very  definite  limits  were  assigned  to  Louisiana,  but  we 
will  not  be  much  out  of  its  geography  by  saying  that  it 
included  all  the  country  between  the  Alleghany  and 
Rocky  Mountains,  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  lakes  of  the  north. 

The  claim  of  the  French  to  this  garden  of  North 
America,  threatened  a  most  serious  interference  with  the 
territorial  rights  of  the  Atlantic  colonies.  A  long  series 
of  disputes  ensued,  which,  after  reaching  across  half  a 
century,  eventuated  in  the  seven  years'  war,  generally 
known  in  our  country  as  the  Old  French  War.  Its  results 
were  fatal  to  the  territorial  pretensions  of  France  in  North 
America.  By  the  treaty  of  peace  in  1763,  she  was 
stripped  of  Canada  and  of  all  Louisiana  east  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  tract  of  land  near 
its  mouth.  All  this  region  came  into  the  undisputed 
possession  of  Great  Britain,  who  at  the  same  time  ac 
quired  the  Floridas  from  Spain,  and  thus  became  sole 
mistress  of  the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi  from  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  remote  north. 

This  was  the  geography  of  English  America  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolution.  By  the  treaty  of 
peace,  which  recognised  the  independence  of  the  co 
lonies,  their  boundaries  were  adjusted ;  but  without  pur- 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  365 

suing  the  formal  language  of  that  treaty,  it  will  be  suf 
ficient  to  say  that  it  designated  Canada  as  the  boundary 
of  the  United  States  on  the  north,  the  Mississippi  river 
as  the  boundary  on  the  west,  and  the  thirty-first  parallel 
of  latitude  and  the  Floridas  as  the  boundary  on  the 
south.  By  this  adjustment,  the  Mississippi  river,  and 
not  the  Pacific,  became  the  nominal  limit  on  the  west — • 
Great  Britain  giving  in  that  direction  all  she  had  to  give. 
By  inspecting  any  map  of  the  country,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  United  States,  being  limited  on  the  south  by  the 
thirty- first  parallel  of  latitude,  were  deprived  of  the 
mouths  of  the  rivers  that  open  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
This  restriction  originated  in  the  fact  that  Spain  was  a 
party  in  the  war  of  our  Revolution,  and  in  the  adjust 
ment  of  affairs  at  its  close,  obtained  the  Floridas  from 
Great  Britain.  She  had  formerly  obtained  what  was  left 
of  Louisiana  from  France ;  and  thus  the  United  States 
had  Spanish  territories  on  the  west  and  on  the  south. 

From  this  sketch,  it  will  readily  be  perceived  that 
the  states  retained  the  same  western  boundary  which 
they  had  in  their  colonial  days — being  permitted  to  ex 
tend  to  the  Mississippi.  But  as  already  observed,  the 
ridge  of  the  Alleghanies  was  in  general  the  limit  of  the 
actually  settled  country  at  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Between  those  mountains  and  the  Mis 
sissippi  there  lay  an  extensive  tract  of  country,  inter 
sected  in  all  directions  by  navigable  streams  and  covered 
with  the  primeval  forests.  To  pay  the  expenses  of  the 
Revolution,  and  for  divers  other  considerations,  those 
states  whose  boundaries  extending  to  the  Mississippi  in 
cluded  these  wild  lands  ceded  the  western  portion  of 
their  territory  to  the  general  government.  By  these 
cessions  or  donations,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New 
York,  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia,  divested 

2H* 


366  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

themselves  of  extensive  possessions  and  designated  their 
boundaries  as  they  exist  at  present.  The  region  thus 
conferred  upon  the  general  government,  subject  to  cer 
tain  reservations,  became  the  Public  Lands  of  the  United 
States,  and  was  equal  to  about  one-half  of  all  the  area 
of  the  country  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Atlantic. 

The  territory  of  the  United  States,  as  we  have  now 
described  it,  was  rapidly  populated.  On  the  Atlantic 
side,  the  states  of  Vermont  and  Maine  have  been  added 
to  the  old  thirteen.  Vermont  was  a  flourishing  district 
before  the  Revolution  ;  but  the  sovereignty  over  it  being 
claimed  both  by  New  York  and  New  Hampshire,  the  in 
habitants  declared  themselves  independent  of  both  of 
those  states,  and  erected  a  government  of  their  own. 
Their  pretensions  were  not  recognised  for  several  years ; 
but  after  they  had  fought  along  through  the  revolution, 
and  through  the  hard  times  of  the  confederation,  the 
difficulties  were  finally  adjusted,  and  Vermont  was  ad 
mitted  into  the  Union.  Maine  came  in  at  a  later  day, 
being  set  off  from  the  territory  included  within  Massa 
chusetts.  These  two  additions  completed  all  that  was 
to  be  added  on  the  northeast. 

But  it  was  in  the  west  that  the  fertile  valleys  and  rich 
lands  were  to  furnish  millions  of  additional  inhabitants 
and  extensive  states.  The  Revolution  was  hardly  ac 
complished  when  the  tide  of  emigration  began  to  carry 
its  thousands  towards  the  west ;  and  hardy  adventurers 
encountered  privations  and  Indians,  and  scattered  them 
selves  along  the  mountain  slopes,  round  the  head  springs, 
and  on  the  borders  of  the  streams  that  flow  from  the 
Alleghanies  to  the  Mississippi.  The  region  northwest 
of  the  Ohio  was  erected  into  a  territorial  government  in 
1787,  and  in  a  few  years  fruitful  fields  were  interspersed 
all  through  that  ancient  wilderness.  Projects  of  specu- 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  367 

lation  carried  many  from  the  Atlantic  states  to  that  land 
of  promise  ;  and  companies,  associations  of  wealthy  men 
in  the  eastern  states,  attempted  to  form  extensive  settle 
ments  in  the  west,  with  the  view  of  individual  gain. 
Among  the  first  of  these  associations  appeared  the  New 
England  Ohio  Company,  which  endeavoured  to  establish 
a  colony  on  the  lands  beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Muskingum,  and  reaching  northward  to  Lake  Erie.  But 
companies  for  colonization  in  North  America  have  gene 
rally  failed.  The  extension  of  democratic  government 
does  not  seem  to  need  their  agency — at  least  they  have 
generally  been  dispensed  with.  I  have  noticed  the  New 
England  Ohio  Company,  because  it  was  the  first  Anglo- 
American  company  which  attempted  for  the  west  the 
same  service  that  similar  associations  had  at  an  earlier 
period  attempted  in  the  east,  and  because  like  them  it 
was  a  failure.  Individual  enterprise — prospects  of  pri 
vate  gain — the  desire  to  have  plenty  of  land,  and  liberty 
to  manage  their  houses  and  farms,  and  children  in  their 
own  way,  became  the  all-powerful  motives  to  emigrate 
to  the  west.  Accordingly,  every  man  who  went  thither, 
went  with  his  own  peculiar  views — went  a  freeman,  and 
became  more  a  freeman  after  arriving  in  his  new  home. 
Such  a  system  of  self-reliance  cultivated  a  character  of 
independence  which,  when  combined  as  it  has  been, 
with  a  high  regard  for  law  and  government,  formed  a 
most  republican — a  most  democratic  population.  This 
spirit  of  private  enterprise  soon  carried  thousands  of 
emigrants  into  the  region  northwest  of  the  Ohio.  Farms 
were  there  cultivated,  cities  were  laid  out,  towns  were 
built,  government  was  organized ;  and  the  states  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Michigan,  have  been  erected, 
while  some  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  region  yet  live  to 
be  numbered  among  the  inhabitants.  The  northwest 


368  PROGRESS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

territory  has  receded  more  and  more,  and  is  now  cornered 
in  the  angular  space  between  Lake  Superior  and  Lake 
Michigan,  where  it  bides  its  time,  preparing  to  add  yet 
another  state  to  the  Union. 

So  rapidly  have  the  four  states  northwest  of  the  Ohio 
increased  in  population,  that  they  now  contain  about 
three  millions  of  inhabitants — a  number  equal  to  that  of 
all  the  states  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution.  This  popu 
lation  has  carried  with  it,  or  rather  has  adopted,  repub 
lican  institutions  in  all  their  purity.  Their  progress  into 
that  wilderness  has  been  the  progress  of  democracy — 
it  has  literally  and  geographically  been  the  progress  of 
the  United  States. 

If  we  direct  our  attention  to  the  country  southeast 
of  the  Ohio,  we  observe  a  similar  series  of  facts.  Emi 
grants,  animated  by  all  the  various  motives  that  can 
prompt  man  to  action,  found  their  way  to  the  rich  re 
gions  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  Who  that  hath  ears 
to  hear  hath  not  heard  of  Daniel  Boone  ? — old  hunting, 
pioneering,  backwoods  Daniel.  Why  is  he  not  cut  out 
in  marble  and  set  up  on  a  pedestal,  or  in  a  niche,  just 
as  he  stood,  wearing  his  bear-skin  cap,  leaning  on  his 
rifle,  and  looking  down  with  a  tranquil,  contemplative 
eye  from  a  peak  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  into  the 
rich  valleys  of  Kentucky.  Chisel  Daniel  Boone  in  mar 
ble  !  It  is  a  useless  work.  He  lives  in  the  history  of 
the  country.  He  was  a  type,  an  imbodiment,  a  fair  re 
presentative  of  the  adventurous  spirit  that  carried  millions 
into  the  great  valley  of  the  interior.  His  pioneering 
genius  speedily  pervaded  thousands,  and  the  backwoods 
men  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  pushed  farther  into 
the  wilderness,  and  it  soon  ceased  to  be  a  wilderness. 

The  early  emigrants  into  the  west,  like  their  prede 
cessors  on  the  Atlantic  declivity,  had  great  and  serious 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  369 

difficulties  to  contend  against.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to 
sit  in  a  comfortable,  well-cushioned  chair,  and  read  of 
their  sufferings,  and  heroism,  and  perseverance.  But 
get  away  to  the  woods,  where  the  huge  trees  stand,  the 
patriarchs  of  centuries — where  savages  are  yelling  — 
where  bread  is  scarce — where  square  log-houses  covered 
with  clapboards  struggle  to  keep  the  rain  out  and  the 
heat  in  —  where  neighbours  are  few  and  wild  beasts 
abundant — get  away,  I  say,  to  these  stern  realities,  and 
you  are  in  the  presence  of  the  heroes — the  genuine  he 
roes — who  settled  and  tamed  the  west,  and  gave  our 
republic  its  geographical  expansion.  We  call  them 
heroes  ;  for  their  adventures,  their  sufferings,  and  their 
triumphs,  mark  out  the  heroic  age  of  our  country.  If 
we  inquire  concerning  the  difficulties  and  dangers  to 
which  they  were  exposed,  hundreds  of  legends  and 
fragmentary  publications  tell  us  of  the  Indians  who 
sternly  resisted  the  advance  of  the  English  into  the  re 
gion  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  The  war  of  the  Revolu 
tion  left  those  savages  in  a  bad  humour,  and  they  viewed 
with  jealous  eyes  the  encroachment  of  the  white  popula 
tion  upon  their  hunting-grounds  —  they  picked  their 
flints,  sharpened  their  tomahawks,  and  prepared  their 
paint.  They  waged  a  long  and  bloody  contest  with  the 
emigrants  on  the  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  persevered 
till  their  warriors  and  their  hopes  were  destroyed.  They 
would  neither  amalgamate  with  the  Europeans  nor  re 
cede  before  them.  They  stood  their  ground,  refusing 
to  receive  by  infusion  the  civilization  of  the  white  race, 
and  striving  to  maintain  the  possessions  and  the  savage 
independence  of  their  forefathers.  They  rendered  more 
than  one  spot  a  "  dark  and  bloody  ground ;"  but  they 
were  resisting  a  law  of  nature — at  least  a  law  of  human 
nature  —  for  the  general  current  of  human  affairs  was 


370  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

impelling  a  people  who  carried  with  them  the  arts  and 
the  power  of  civilization  against  rude  and  barbarous 
tribes,  who  personally  were  heroes,  but  who  had  neither 
the  intelligence,  the  numbers,  nor  the  political  organiza 
tion  sufficient  to  resist  the  onward,  unceasing,  mighty 
stream  of  emigration.  There  was  no  equality  between 
the  forces  brought  into  collision.  On  one  side  were  ar 
rayed,  great  numbers,  a  moral  energy,  an  unceasing  ac 
cession  from  the  east,  the  arts,  the  arms,  and  the  address 
of  civilization.  On  the  other  appeared,  the  dispersed 
and  disunited  aborigines,  striving  in  vain  to  array  savage 
heroism  and  individual  prowess  against  the  pressure  of 
the  opposing  mass.  The  contest  was  in  every  point  of 
view  unequal.  The  laws  of  nature  were  not  changed, 
and  the  weaker  force  yielded  to  the  stronger.  It  yielded 
with  many  a  violent  spasm,  but  yet  it  yielded. 

We  have  said  that  the  number  of  the  Indians  was 
small.  From  their  roving  mode  of  life,  and  want  of 
political  unity,  no  accurate  knowledge  of  their  numbers 
has  ever  been  obtained.  Various  estimates  concerning 
them  have  been  made,  all  based  on  conjecture  and  on 
the  Single  Rule  of  Three  rather  than  upon  actual,  old- 
fashioned  counting.  John  Filson,  geographer  and  his 
toriographer  to  Daniel  Boone,  and  who  published  in 
1784,  "  The  Discovery,  Purchase,  and  Settlement  of 
Kentucke,"  enumerates  twenty-eight  tribes  of  Indians, 
all  that  were  then  known  on  the  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  puts  down  their  number  at  "  twenty  thousand  souls 
in  all."  Imlay,  the  writer  of  the  topographical  de 
scription  of  Kentucky,  estimates  sixty  thousand  Indians 
in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  including  nearly  all  the 
range  between  the  Alleghany  and  Rocky  Mountains. 
These  estimates  are  certainly  too  small ;  and  we  will 
have  doubtless  a  closer  approximation  to  the  truth  by 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  371 

tripling  them,  and  allowing  sixty  thousand  on  the  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
between  the  Alleghany  and  Rocky  Mountains.  These 
numbers,  it  is  true,  are  made  by  arithmetic  and  clever 
guessing,  but  they  are  quite  as  high  as  the  best  authori 
ties  admit,  and  sufficiently  accurate  for  the  only  purpose 
I  now  have  in  view,  which  is  to  represent  the  conquest 
and  expulsion  of  the  Indians  as  the  inevitable  result  of 
their  collision  or  contact  with  the  white  race.  But  they 
maintained  the  conflict  for  twenty  years  on  the  southeast 
of  the  Ohio,  and  inflicted  wound  after  wound  upon  the 
emigrants.  Their  code  of  warfare  had  no  name  for 
mercy.  But  they  finally  vanished  from  the  presence  of 
their  foes,  and  many  of  their  tribes  ceased  to  exist. 

Notwithstanding  the  resistance  of  the  Indians,  the 
stream  of  emigration  to  the  west  flowed  on ;  and  by  the 
year  1790  there  were  about  one  hundred  thousand  in 
habitants  scattered  over  the  region  between  the  Allegha- 
nies  and  the  Mississippi,  a  large  proportion  of  whom 
were  within  the  limits  of  the  present  states  of  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee.  These  were  merely  the  forerunners  of 
the  millions  that  followed.  One  emigrant  attracted  ten 
after  him. 

The  wants  and  cares  of  this  population  soon  im 
pressed  a  distinctive  character  upon  them.  They  were 
in  the  wroods,  on  the  borders  of  magnificent  streams, 
exposed  to  dangers,  away  from  the  monarchical  institu 
tions  of  Europe,  away  from  the  cultivated  life  of  the 
Atlantic  border,  among  mountains,  in  rich  valleys,  almost 
in  a  world  of  their  own,  and  yet  receiving  continually 
additions  from  the  east.  From  all  these  modifying  in 
fluences,  they  grew  up  a  patriotic,  a  high-minded,  and 
a  republican  people.  They  created — literally,  and  by 


372  PROGRESS    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

no  figure  of  speech — they  created  around  them  the  com 
forts,  and  luxuries,  and  elegancies  of  life. 

Their  political  organization  kept  pace  with  their  po 
litical  wants.  In  1790,  Congress  erected  the  country 
southeast  of  the  Ohio  into  a  territorial  government,  and 
extended  to  it  the  laws  of  the  Union.  Kentucky  had 
received  much  of  its  population  from  Virginia,  within 
whose  ancient  limits  it  lay,  and  under  whose  laws  it 
continued  for  a  time.  Tennessee  grew  up  nominally 
under  the  laws  of  North  Carolina,  but  in  fact  under  the 
laws  of  the  emigrants  themselves.  They  erected  the 
eastern  part  of  that  region  into  a  government,  and  gave 
it  the  significant  name  of  the  state  of  Frankland,  and  it 
was  most  literally  zfreeland.  It  came,  however,  in  col 
lision  with  the  authorities  of  North  Carolina,  and  after 
much  heart-break,  and  a  little  bloodshed,  Frankland 
submitted  to  the  parent  state,  and  subsequently  passed, 
by  cession  from  North  Carolina,  to  the  general  govern 
ment,  and  was  included  in  the  southeast  territory. 

But  the  condition  of  the  whole  territory  south  of  the 
Ohio  and  east  of  the  Mississippi,  was  continually  vary 
ing.  Every  year  brought  a  new  state  of  affairs;  the 
main  feature  of  all  the  changes  being  a  rapid  increase  in 
population,  and  an  extension  of  popular  institutions.  In 
a  few  years,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  were  erected  into 
states,  and  added  to  the  Union.  Alabama  and  Missis 
sippi  were  at  a  later  day  carved  out  of  the  same  region, 
and  took  their  place  in  the  nation. 

Thus  eight  states  have  been  formed  between  the 
Alleghany  Mountains  and  the  Mississippi  river,  within 
the  boundaries  of  the  United  States  as  established  by 
the  treaty  which  recognised  their  independence.  The 
population  which  hastened  to  this  region  were  schooled 
in  the  business  of  self-government,  many  of  them  being 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  373 

natives  of  the  Eastern  States.  Consequently,  when  es 
tablished  in  their  new  homes,  their  ability  to  make  their 
own  laws,  their  desire  of  popular  government,  their 
correct  views  of  the  work  of  the  Revolution,  and  their 
whole  political  creed,  fitted  them — eminently  fitted  them 
to  embrace,  protect,  and  extend  our  republican  system. 
They  therefore  adopted  democratic  institutions,  because 
such  institutions  were  congenial  with  all  their  habits, 
tastes,  and  wants.  Their  political  organization  was,  in 
the  main,  their  own  work.  It  was  not  the  force  of 
congressional  acts  that  erected  them  into  states.  The 
country,  the  western  country  we  mean,  invited  them  to 
come  to  its  rich  lands.  They  went,  and  when  there  they 
adopted  that  system  of  laws  and  that  code  of  liberty 
which  was  suited  to  their  condition  and  their  necessities. 
But  their  laws,  government,  and  institutions,  harmonized 
with  those  of  the  Eastern  States.  They*  therefore  came 
forward,  from  time  to  time,  and  added  their  wealth,  their 
strength,  and  their  influence  to  the  Union.  Here  was 
progress  —  geographically — numerically.  These  eight 
states  extend  over  a  great  surface.  They  are  still  in 
creasing  in  population,  and  are  capable  of  containing, 
and  wrill  soon  contain,  many  millions  of  inhabitants  more 
than  they  have  at  present. 

II.  Let  us  next  inquire  into  the  geographical  exten 
sion  which  was  effected  for  our  republic  by  the  purchase 
of  Louisiana.  The  United  States  were  not  destined  to 
be  limited  by  the  Mississippi  on  the  west,  and  penned 
in  by  artificial  lines  on  the  south.  Astronomers  make 
parallels  of  latitude,  but  nature  made  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
Every  nation  strives  for  those  natural  boundaries  which 
are  pointed  out  by  its  wants  and  its  convenience  ;  and 
no  nation  ever  needed  a  natural  boundary  more  than  the 
United  States  needed  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  for  their 
2i 


374  PROGRESS    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

southern  limit.  There  was  indeed  a  necessity — an  irre 
sistible  necessity,  that  the  people  who  inhabited  the  rich 
lands  in  the  upper  region  of  the  Mississippi,  should  have 
the  control  and  unlimited  use  of  that  river  to  its  mouth. 
To  deprive  them  of  this  natural  communication  with  the 
rest  of  the  world,  would  in  reality  cut  off  the  great  com 
mercial  artery  which  afforded  them  nourishment  and  life. 
There  is  such  a  fact  as  contiguity — a  natural  unity  of 
country  arising  from  the  course  of  trade,  and  from  the 
necessity  of  possessing  one  region  in  order  to  have  the 
full  enjoyment  of  another  with  which  it  is  connected. 
Such  a  contiguity — such  a  natural  unity  exists  in  the 
west,  in  the  great  valley  of  the  interior,  where  one  nation 
cannot  have  the  full  possession  and  enjoyment  of  the 
fruitful  plains  and  slopes  that  are  watered  by  the  rivers, 
while  another  has  the  control  of  the  bays  and  harbours, 
and  river  mouths  that  open  to  the  ocean.  Nature  has 
established  a  harmony  and  a  correspondence  between 
the  wants  of  man  and  the  structure  of  the  earth.  Rivers 
and  oceans  have  become  the  highways  of  the  world. 
But  in  regard  of  these  provisions  of  nature,  the  treaty 
of  independence  gave  to  our  republic  the  vast  and  fruit 
ful  territory  which  now  composes  the  eight  states  be 
tween  the  Alleghany  Mountains  and  the  Mississippi,  and 
yet  cut  off  all  this  western  country  from  its  obvious 
channel  of  communication  with  the  commercial  world. 
The  thirty-first  parallel  of  latitude,  which  was  assigned 
as  the  boundary  on  the  south,  shut  out,  or  rather  shut 
in,  the  Western  States  from  the  ocean.  Spain  having 
acquired  the  country  round  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  held  a 
power  which  was  inconsistent  with  the  interests  and  ne 
cessities  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  in  the  west. 
She  had  her  hand  upon  the  great  aorta  of  their  circula 
tion,  and  frequently  made  them  feel  its  pressure.  The 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  375 

United  States  had,  indeed,  made  treaties  with  her  respect 
ing  the  commercial  interests  of  the  west,  but  Spanish  go 
vernors  often  violated  them ;  and  while  our  republic  was 
negotiating  for  redress,  the  western  people  were  suffering. 
Nor  were  they  blind  to  their  interests,  or  disposed  to 
suffer  in  silence.  They  sent  up  frequent  and  earnest  ap 
peals  for  the  protection  of  our  government ;  and  ru 
mours,  originating  in  suspicion,  began  to  float  about  that 
their  interests  were  alienating  their  affections  from  their 
brethren  in  the  east,  and  pointing  towards  the  organiza 
tion  of  a  new  republic  in  the  west,  whose  first  business 
would  be  to  negotiate  or  conquer  a  free  use  of  the  Mis 
sissippi.  The  public  ear  was  frequently  saluted  with 
reports  of  expeditions  planned  from  the  west  against 
Mexico,  against  Orleans,  and  against  other  points  of  the 
Spanish  possessions.  The  common  basis  of  all  this 
claim  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  That  strip 
of  land  being  under  Spanish  control,  agitated  all  the 
west,  and  created  serious  apprehensions  in  the  east. 

Such  a  state  of  affairs  was  intolerable.  The  perma 
nence  of  our  institutions,  and  their  extension  in  a  com 
bined  system  upon  this  continent,  required  that  the  evil 
should  be  removed.  Propositions  were  made,  and  se 
riously  debated  in  Congress,  to  seize  upon  Orleans  by 
force,  and  open  to  the  ocean  that  communication  which 
was  essential  to  the  wants  of  the  west,  and  which  had 
been  interrupted  by  Spain.  But  the  course  of  affairs  in 
Europe  took  such  a  direction,  that  the  United  States  ac 
quired  by  negotiation  not  only  the  mouth  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  but  all  the  vast  region  of  country  which  lies  be 
tween  that  river  and  the  far^far  west.  Viewed  in  re 
ference  to  these  circumstances,  the  purchase  of  Louisiana 
in  1803  was  an  affair  of  the  greatest  consequence  to  our 
republic  ;  for,  while  it  quieted  the  fears  of  the  people 


376  PROGRESS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

of  the  west,  it  brought  a  great  addition  of  strength  to 
the  nation.  This  strength  was  derived  not  so  much  from 
the  increase  of  territory  as  from  the  acquisition  of  an 
outlet  for  the  trade  of  the  interior. 

But  what  was  Louisiana  ?  We  have  frequently  re 
ferred  to  its  fortunes  in  the  previous  lectures,  and  have 
space  to  add  but  little  more  concerning  it.  Go  back  to 
a  very  remote  American  antiquity — go  back  a  whole 
century  from  the  present  time,  and  what  is  Louisiana  ? 
The  name  then  designated  all  the  interior  of  America, 
having  Canada  on  the  north,  the  Alleghenies  on  the 
east,  and  extending  westward — as  far  as  it  extended. 
Shadowy  and  vast  enough,  it  is  true ;  but  this  was  the 
meaning  of  Louisiana  in  the  French  language.  In  Eng 
lish  it  did  not  mean  quite  so  much.  After  the  seven 
years'  war,  and  the  peace  of  1763,  this  territory  was 
driven  to  the  western  side  of  the  Mississippi,  except  near 
the  mouth  of  that  river,  where  it  extended  across  and 
rested  its  dimly  denned  eastern  corner  oji  the  "  line  of 
the  Perdido."  According  to  this  geography,  it  had  the 
Canada  line  on  the  north  at  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of 
latitude,  the  Mississippi  on  the  east,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  the  Spanish  possessions  on  the  south,  while  towards 
the  west  it  stretched  away  over  the  prairies,  mountains, 
rivers,  and  deserts,  towards  the  setting  sun.  With  these 
dimensions  it  was  transferred  from  France  to  Spain  in 
1763 ;  with  these  dimensions  it  was  re  transferred  to 
France  in  1800,  and  with  these  dimensions  it  was  ceded 
by  France  to  the  United  States  in  1803. 

The  troubled  state  of  Europe  threw  this  prize  into 
the  possession  of  our  republic.  Napoleon  had  acquired 
it  from  Spain  ;  but  the  prospect  of  a  war  with  England, 
and  the  earnest  language  of  our  republic  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  the  outlet  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  in- 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  377 

duced  him  to  transfer  the  whole  of  Louisiana  to  the 
United  States.  He  saw  the  impossibility  of  defending 
it  against  England,  in  the  approaching  collision  with  that 
power,  and  to  prevent  it  from  falling  into  her  grasp,  he 
ceded  it — granted,  bargained,  and  sold  it  to  our  republic. 
By  this  purchase  the  remainder  of  the  magnificent 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  was  added  to  the  United  States, 
and  the  territorial  extent  of  our  government  nearly 
doubled.  From  the  first  discovery  of  that  region  by  the 
French,  they  had  endeavoured  to  colonize  it ;  and  hopes 
were  entertained  that  it  would  speedily  become  the 
brightest  jewel  that  adorned  the  crown  of  the  sons  of 
St.  Louis.  They  expended  vast  sums  of  money  in  anx 
ious  attempts  to  give  it  a  population,  and  render  it  a 
prosperous  and  productive  country.  Towards  it  were 
directed  the  anxious  eyes  of  private  adventurers  and 
princely  patrons,  while  the  burning  imagination  of  in 
terested  and  credulous  men  beheld  rich  mines  of  gold, 
cultivated  fields,  and  populous  cities,  dispersed  over  its 
ample  surface.  But  it  seems  that  the  tastes,  and  habits, 
and  whole  life  and  temperament  of  the  French,  were 
unsuited  to  a  residence  in  the  vast  solitudes  of  the 
western  wilderness.  The  nature  of  the  country  required 
its  colonization  to  be  undertaken  by  men  who  could  en 
dure  to  live  for  weeks  and  months,  and  even  years,  away 
from  the  companionship  of  others,  and  who  could  find 
in  the  excitement  of  the  chase,  in  the  labour  of  the  field, 
or  in  a  contest  with  the  Indians,  full  and  pleasing  em 
ployment  for  all  the  energies  of  mind  and  body.  Bui 
of  all  men  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  the  Frenchman  is, 
perhaps,  the  least  adapted  to  the  life  of  a  backwoods 
man.  His  inclinations  and  habits  continually  direct  him 
to  society  as  the  source  of  his  enjoyments.  When 
transplanted  to  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  left 
2i* 


378  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

alone  in  the  vast  forests  and  extensive  solitudes  of  na 
ture,  he  felt  within  his  heart  an  aching  void  which  could 
not  be  filled  by  all  the  magnificence  with  which  he  was 
surrounded.  He  sighed  for  the  companionship  of  his 
ancient  neighbour,  grew  melancholy  as  he  listened  to 
the  howl  of  the  wild  beast — found  no  solace  even  when 
a  grand  chorus  of  frogs  sent  up  from  lake  and  pond  their 
united  music  to  hail  the  returning  spring ;  but  directing 
his  thoughts  away  from  the  wildness  about  him,  he  pined 
away  under  a  Nostalgia' — a  patriotic  back-ache — an  ear 
nest  yearning  to  return  to  his  native  land.  Such  a  man 
was  most  eminently  disqualified  for  the  work  of  cutting 
down  the  great  trees,  cleaning  out  the  marshes,  and 
changing  the  forests  of  Louisiana  into  a  cultivated  coun 
try.  He  contrasted  most  singularly  with  the  Anglo-Saxon 
pioneer,  who  readily  becomes  a  most  efficient  man  in  the 
woods,  and  acquires  almost  immediately  a  taste  for  roam 
ing  through  the  forests,  and  for  living  through  weeks  and 
months  with  few  or  no  companions.  This  natural  dis 
position  of  the  French  retarded  their  settlements  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Vast  sums  of  money  were 
expended  by  speculators  in  France,  in  the  vain  hope  of 
building  up  the  colony ;  but  notwithstanding  the  millions 
that  were  lavished  upon  it,  Louisiana  remained  nearly 
as  nature  made  it — a  great  wilderness.  Its  French  po 
pulation  continued  sparse ;  their  presence  being  mani 
fested  only  in  a  few  districts  on  the  coast,  and  in  a  few 
settlements  in  the  interior,  while  here  and  there  a  mili 
tary  post  was  the  only  symbol  of  their  possession  of  the 
country.  After  its  transfer  to  Spain  in  1763,  the  French 
inhabitants  which  it  contained  continued  in  their  posses 
sions,  and  very  reluctantly  became  Spanish  subjects. 
During  the  thirty-seven  years  that  it  remained  in  posses 
sion  of  Spain,  it  made  some  progress  in  population. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  379 

The  Spanish  laws  and  institutions  were  introduced  with 
out  much  regard  to  their  inappropriateness  to  the  con 
dition  of  the  people;  and  the  original  French  inhabitants 
and  their  descendants,  sighed  for  a  release  from  the  do 
minion  under  which  they  were  placed.  They  were  ac 
cordingly  well  pleased  when  the  changes  in  Europe  re- 
transferred  them  first  to  France  ;  but  not  so  well  pleased 
with  their  transfer  to  the  United  States.  They  ac 
quiesced,  however,  in  the  arrangement  which  gave  them 
promise  of  becoming  citizens  of  our  republic.  Napoleon 
seems  to  have  beheld  some  dimly  defined  and  gigantic 
visions  of  this  fruitful  region.  But  he  saw  that  the  new 
born  peace  of  Amiens  was  ready  to  expire,  the  notes  of 
warlike  preparation  in  England  were  sounding  in  his 
ears;  and  his  pictures  of  grandeur  in  America  faded 
away  as  he  beheld  English  ships  ready  to  sail  to  the  Mis 
sissippi  and  deprive  him  for  ever  of  Louisiana.  To  pre 
vent  this  last  result  he  transferred  it  to  the  United  States. 

And  yet  this  extraordinary  man,  carefully,  paternally, 
stipulated  that  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana  should  be 
come  citizens  of  our  republic,  and  be  in  due  time  dis 
tributed  into  states  and  admitted  into  the  Union,  and 
that  in  the  meantime  they  should  be  protected  in  the  en 
joyment  of  their  liberty,  property,  and  religion.  He 
specifically  directed  these  provisions  to  be  inserted  in  the 
treaty  of  cession,  and  thereby  made  arrangements  that 
his  French  subjects  in  Louisiana  should  have  the  benefit 
of  the  laws  and  constitution  of  our  republic. 

Napoleon  directed  this — the  graceless  despot ! 

In  the  dispensations  of  Divine  Providence,  the  bad 
and  angry  passions  of  man  are  often  connected  with  re 
sults  most  beneficial  to  the  human  race.  The  bad  temper 
existing  between  the  rulers  of  France  and  Great  Britain 
at  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  produced 


380  PROGRESS    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

a  sensation  over  the  whole  world,  being  felt  by  the  Cos 
sack  in  the  depths  of  Russia,  and  by  the  Indian  at  the 
base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Our  country  suffered 
many  evils  from  this  source ;  but  the  acquisition  of  Lou 
isiana,  which  was  brought  about  by  the  agency  of  the 
same  unholy  passions,  conferred  an  inestimable  benefit 
upon  the  United  States.  This  purchase  not  only  added 
three  hundred  millions  of  acres  to  the  territory  of  our 
government,  but,  what  was  of  the  greatest  importance, 
it  quieted  the  fears  of  the  western  people  in  regard  to  the 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  and  established  in  part  the 
natural  boundaries  of  our  country.  It  left  the  great 
artery  of  the  west  to  carry  nourishment  to  the  people  of 
the  interior,  and  bound  them  more  firmly  to  the  Union. 
It  removed  the  boundary  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  far 
west,  and  opened  a  fertile  and  well  watered  country  to 
the  influence  of  our  republican  institutions. 

Since  the  time  that  Louisiana  came  into  the  posses 
sion  of  the  United  States,  it  has  progressed  rapidly  in 
population  and  wealth.  Already  the  states  of  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  Missouri,  and  Iowa,  have  been  carved  out  of 
it,  three  of  which  have  been  added  to  the  Union,  and 
the  fourth  stands  ready,  awraiting  some  subsidiary  regu 
lations  to  become  a  member  of  the  republic.  But  still 
a  magnificent  portion  of  the  Louisiana  purchase  remains 
uninhabited.  The  upper  Mississippi  on  the  western 
side,  is  yet  in  a  great  measure  without  a  population — 
vast  tracts  of  land  remaining  there  in  the  primeval  wild- 
ness  of  nature.  The  country  around  the  heads  of  this 
river,  and  extending  from  it  to  the  fountains  of  the  Mis 
souri  at  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  perhaps 
the  most  finely  watered  region  in  the  world,  being 
studded  with  lakes  and  intersected  all  over  with  rivulets 
whose  waters,  winding  towards  every  point  of  the  com- 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  381 

pass,  constantly  converge  towards  the  main  streams,  and 
flowing  into  the  great  river  of  the  west,  speed  their  way 
through  varied  climates  from  north  to  south,  and  finally 
roll  their  accumulated  floods  into  the  ocean,  four  thou 
sand  miles  away  from  their  source.  Prairies  and  pla 
teaux,  and  ridges  of  hills  occasionally  vary  this  land  of 
springs,  and  afford  ranges  for  herds  of  buffaloes,  grizly 
bears,  and  wandering  Indians.  This  unpopulated  re 
gion,  the  still  untamed  part  of  the  Louisiana  purchase, 
affords  ample  space  out  of  which  to  erect  twenty  new 
states.  The  current  of  emigration  is  continually  flowing 
towards  it;  and  while  the  Eastern  States  send  thither 
their  pioneers  with  their  democratic  notions  and  their  re 
publican  institutions,  the  overflowing  millions  of  Europe 
stream  in  the  same  direction,  and  settling  down  at  dif 
ferent  points  between  the  Atlantic  coast  and  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  mix  and  amalgamate  with  the  American  peo 
ple,  and  swell  the  tide  that  is  moving  towards  the  head 
waters  of  the  Missouri.  Already  more  than  a  million 
of  inhabitants  are  dispersed  over  the  states  and  terri 
tories  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  millions  more  can 
yet  be  accommodated  in  that  vast  reservoir.  There, 
whether  derived  from  Europe  or  by  natural  increase, 
they  will  coalesce  with  the  present  population  of  our 
country.  The  old  French  and  Spanish  settlers  are  ra 
pidly  losing  their  peculiar  characteristics.  Time  will 
smelt,  fuse,  and  confuse  the  habits,  languages,  and  di 
versities  of  all  others  who  may  come  hither,  into  a  single 
mass,  and  form  a  population  entirely  American  in  its 
character.  Our  institutions  are  already  spread  far  into 
the  Louisiana  purchase ;  and  while  that  great  tract  of 
country  in  the  possesion  of  our  government  forms  a 
barrier  against  encroachments  from  the  British  on  the 
north,  and  the  Spaniards  on  the  south,  it  also  opens  a 


382  PROGRESS    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

field  for  the  wider  and  yet  wider  extension  of  our  re 
publican  system. 

III.  The  next  geographical  extension  of  the  United 
States  was  in  Florida,  an  acquisition  that  was  made  in 
1819.  In  ancient  Spanish  geography,  Florida  embraced 
not  only  the  peninsula  that  now  bears  that  name,  but  all 
the  Atlantic  declivity  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  or  Canada,  on  the  north.  The 
well  founded  claims  of  England,  however,  interfered 
with  these  far-reaching  boundaries ;  and  the  several  At 
lantic  colonies  gradually  clipped  away  the  head  and  body 
of  Florida,  and  left  merely  the  tail  to  project  out  south 
ward  into  the  ocean.  Its  Spanish  sovereigns  were  not, 
indeed,  entirely  contented  to  be  driven  so  far  towards 
the  south  ;  and  various  manifestations  of  their  desire  to 
extend  northward  and  westward  shine  out  at  intervals 
through  the  long  space  of  nearly  three  hundred  years. 
From  1763  to  1783,  the  country — Florida  with  its  pre 
sent  dimensions — was  in  the  possession  of  Great  Britain  ; 
but  was  restored  to  Spain  at  the  general  pacification  which 
established  American  independence.  After  that  time  its 
northern  limit  on  the  Atlantic  "  was  clear  and  unquestion 
able  ;"  but  towards  the  west  the  Spaniards  averred  that  it 
extended  towards  the  Mississippi,  and  sweeping  round 
towards  the  northwest,  cut  deep  into  the  region  that  now 
lies  within  the  states  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi.  The 
United  States  resisted  these  claims  of  the  Spaniards,  and 
alleged  that  the  Louisiana  purchase  extended  on  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  from  the  river  Perdido,  on  the  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  to  the  Rio  Grande.  Various  collisions  oc 
curred  between  the  two  governments  in  consequence  of 
these  conflicting  pretensions.  The  United  States  finally 
took  possession  of  this  debatable  land  in  1810,  and  the 
Perdido  became  the  western  boundary  of  Florida.  Du- 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  383 

ring  the  administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  various  efforts 
•were  made  to  obtain  Florida ;  and  the  explicit  instruc 
tions  to  the  American  plenipotentiaries,  who  negotiated 
the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  directed  them  to  procure  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  Florida.  These  instruc 
tions  were  given  under  the  impression  that  France  had 
the  disposal  of  this  desirable  tract  of  land ;  but  when  it 
was  found  that  Spain  still  retained  it,  application  was 
made  to  her,  but  made  without  success.  The  possession 
of  this  territory  by  the  Spaniards,  was  soon  found  to  be 
entirely  inconsistent  with  the  peace  and  security  of  the 
southern  border  of  the  United  States.  In  the  actual  re 
lations  of  Great  Britain  to  Spain,  and  to  our  own  country, 
it  became  the  rendezvous  of  the  enemies  of  our  re 
public  ;  and  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  again  in  the  Semi- 
nole  war  of  1817,  it  was  found  necessary  for  the  Ame 
rican  armies  to  invade  Florida  in  order  to  reach  the 
head-quarters  of  the  hostile  savages.  The  difficulties 
arising  from  these  various  interferences  with  national 
rights,  and  neutral  rights,  and  Indian  rights,  kept  the 
southern  border  of  our  country  in  unceasing  alarm,  and 
seriously  endangered  the  amicable  relations  between  the 
two  governments.  After  various  efforts  made  to  termi 
nate  these  contentions,  a  treaty  was  concluded  in  1819 
by  which  the  United  States  came  into  peaceable  posses 
sion  of  the  desired  country. 

Florida  has  rapidty  improved  since  it  came  under  the 
control  of  the  United  States,  and  has  recently  been  raised 
to  the  dignity  of  a  state,  and  now  forms  a  member  of 
the  Union. 

The  acquisition  of  this  region  was  of  great  benefit  to 
our  republic,  inasmuch  as  it  made  the  ocean,  and  not 
the  Spaniards,  the  limit  on  the  southeast.  It  furnished 
the  natural  boundary  of  our  country  in  that  direction ; 


384  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

for  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Atlantic  are  evidently 
the  natural  boundaries  of  the  United  States  on  the  south 
east,  inasmuch  as  many  of  the  rivers  in  that  quarter  flow 
through  Florida,  and  carry  out  and  bring  back  the  ma 
terial  of  the  internal  wealth  of  the  country.  The  interest 
of  the  western  and  southwestern  states  demand  the  un 
limited  use  of  the  waters  that  flow  from  them — a  use 
which  they  could  not  have  in  peace  so  long  as  the  Spa 
nish  forts  and  flag  were  seen  at  the  mouths  of  these 
streams.  But  the  treaty  of  limits  with  Spain  in  1819 
transferred  this  country  with  its  soil  and  sovereignty  to 
the  United  States,  and  gave  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  in 
terior  a  more  free  communication  with  the  ocean. 

IV.  The  next  geographical  extension  of  the  United 
States  was  in  the  annexation  of  Texas.  The  party  dis 
cussion  in  which  this  measure  has  been  so  recently  in 
volved,  prohibits  us  from  speaking  of  its  policy  at  this 
time.  And  even  if  such  a  cause  of  silence  did  not  exist, 
the  animated  and  elaborate  investigation  of  the  subject, 
still  fresh  in  the  public  mind,  renders  any  details  re 
specting  it  at  present  unnecessary.  We  will  therefore 
content  ourselves  with  a  synopsis  of  the  general  course 
of  the  arguments  by  which  this  addition  to  our  republic 
has  been  opposed  and  advocated.  Such  a  summary  is 
sufficient  for.  our  purpose. 

The  opponents  of  annexation  relied  upon  the  follow 
ing  objections : 

1st.  The  United  States  has  territory  enough  without 
Texas. 

2d.  The  addition  of  this  region  will  give  a  prepon 
derance  to  the  slave-holding  interest  of  the  south  and 
southwest. 

3d.  It  will  endanger  the  Union  by  extending  it  in 
such  a  direction  that  the  slave-holding  states  may  be 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  385 

tempted  to  dissolve  their  present  connexions,  and  orga 
nize  a  southwestern  republic. 

4th.  It  will  be  of  no  advantage  to  the  rest  of  the 
Union  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  inasmuch  as  Texas, 
instead  of  being  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey, 
is  a  land  overflowed  with  hard  cases. 

5th.  Mexico  has  claims  upon  Texas,  never  having 
acknowledged  its  independence,  and  until  she  makes 
such  a  recognition  the  incorporation  of  it  into  our  re 
public  is  inconsistent  with  the  amicable  relations  between 
the  United  States  and  that  government. 

6th.  Its  annexation  is  a  violation  of  the  Consitution 
of  the  United  States,  inasmuch  as  that  instrument  confers 
no  power  upon  the  general  government  to  acquire  foreign 
territory. 

This  last  objection  was  urged  with  much  earnestness, 
and  stood  in  a  class  by  itself;  the  other  five  objections 
here  enumerated  forming  another  class,  and  having  re 
ference  to  the  policy  or  expediency  of  the  measures. 
They  were  of  course  deemed  unanswerable  by  those 
who  presented  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  advocates  of  annexation  pre 
sented  the  following  views : 

In  regard  to  the  constitutional  objection,  they  met  it 
by  a  direct  denial,  and  asserted  that  the  annexation  would 
be  no  violation  of  that  instrument.  They  alleged  that 
the  constitution  does  not  prevent  the  general  government 
from  adding  foreign  territory  to  the  United  States;  and 
they  pointed  to  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  and  Florida, 
which  had  already  been  made,  and  asserted  that  if  they 
were  constitutional,  so  also  would  be  the  annexation  of 
Texas. 

In  reply  to  the  other  class  of  objections,  namely, 


386  PROGRESS    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

those  that  deny  the  policy  of  the  measure,  they  advanced 
the  following  considerations : 

1st.  There  is  no  danger  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union 
arising  from  the  extension  of  territory  towards  the  south 
west. 

2d.  National  defence  requires  us  to  secure  this  region, 
for,  if  Texas  be  not  incorporated  with  the  United  States, 
it  will,  in  all  probability  become  an  appendage  to  some 
European  power,  who  will  annoy  us  as  the  Spaniards 
did  in  Florida.  It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  add  that 
Great  Britain  was  singled  out  as  that  power. 

3d.  Slavery  in  the  United  States  with  Texas  annexed 
will  be  no  more  extensive  than  it  is  independently  of 
that  territory,  for  though  it  may  be  established  in  that 
region  it  will  thereby  be  drawn  away  from  the  more 
Northern  States. 

4th.  Texas  is  a  land  of  promise,  with  a  soil  fertile 
and  well  watered.  Bounded  by  the  Sabine  on  the  east, 
and  by  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  or  Great  North  river  on 
the  west,  and  intersected  by  the  Colorado  and  Brasos, 
and  other  streams,  it  abounds  in  facilities  for  agriculture, 
and  will  speedily  become  a  rich,  populous,  and  produc 
tive  state,  increasing  the  revenues  to  the  general  treasury 
and  forming  a  barrier  of  defence,  and  a  most  desirable 
addition  to  the  strength  of  the  Union. 

5th.  It  is  settled  principally  by  emigrants  from  the 
United  States,  who  carried  with  them  our  institutions,  and 
are  well  fitted  to  form  an  enterprising  and  industrious 
state. 

6th.  It  was  really  included  in  the  Louisiana  purchase 
and  was  improperly  severed  from  our  country  by  the 
treaty  with  Spain  in  1819,  which  gave  us  Florida  and 
defined  our  limit  on  the  southwest ;  consequently  its  an 
nexation  will  be  merely  a  restoration  of  territory  which 
once  belonged  to  our  republic. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  387 

7th.  Finally,  Mexico  has  no  just  claim  upon  the 
country,  Texas  having  been  for  several  years  an  inde 
pendent  state,  and  capable  of  disposing  of  herself  accord 
ing  to  her  own  views  of  policy. 

Such  are  the  main  arguments  by  which  this  increase 
of  territory  was  opposed  and  advocated.  The  usual 
fate  of  all  party  discussions  attended  these  opposite  views, 
the  arguments  in  favour  of  annexation  being  regarded 
as  perfectly  visionary  by  one  class  of  men,  and  the  argu 
ments  in  opposition  to  it  being  treated  as  equally  vision 
ary  by  another  class  of  men.  The  territory  \vas  annexed, 
and  Texas  has  her  place  among  the  states  of  the  Union. 

By  these  several  acquisitions  of  Louisiana,  Florida 
and  Texas,  the  United  States,  which  at  the  adoption  of 
the  constitution  were  limited  by  the  Mississippi  on  the 
west  and  by  the  thirty-first  parallel  of  latitude  on  the 
south,  gradually  expanded  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  to  the  Great  North  river  on  the 
southwest.  These  additions  have  put  our  Republic  in 
possession  of  all  the  great  valley  of  the  interior  of  North 
America.  Here  is  a  region  sufficient  for  a  vast  empire, 
much  of  which  has  been  added  to  the  territory  of  our 
country  since  our  national  organization.  That  republic 
which  began  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Alleghanies  first 
extended  itself  beyond  that  ridge  of  hills,  then  it  spread 
itself  to  the  Mississippi,  then  it  crossed  that  river,  then 
it  pushed  itself  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  now  it  has 
made  another  movement  to\vards  the  southwest.  By 
these  several  advances  it  has  gained  its  natural  boun 
daries  on  the  south  and  southwest,  and  has  nothing  more 
to  seek  or  to  desire  in  that  direction.  Towards  the  west 
it  has  crossed  the  Rocky  mountains  and  dipped  its  wrings 
in  the  Pacific. 

V.  Another  geographical   extension   of  the  United 


388  PROGRESS   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

States,  and  the  last  which  we  have  to  notice,  is  in  the 
far-famed  territory  of  Oregon.  We  call  it  far-famed, 
for  its  renown  has  penetrated  to  every  log-cabin  in  the 
United  States ;  and  the  national  legislature,  the  public 
press,  and  the  chambers  of  diplomacy,  have  just  finished 
their  discussions  respecting  our  "  clear  and  unquestion 
able"  title  to  this  region.  It  would  therefore  be  both 
ungracious  and  unprofitable  again  to  drag  before  the 
public  the  aching  bones  of  this  belaboured  subject.  A 
few  words  upon  it  will  serve  our  purpose. 

By  Oregon  is  now  understood  the  middle  section  of 
the  western  slope  of  North  America,  lying  between  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific,  having  Mexico  on  the 
south,  and  the  notorious  forty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude 
on  the  north.  The  United  States  hold  this  territory  by 
virtue  of  a  triangular  title,  one  corner  of  which  rests  on 
the  Mexican  line  towards  the  south,  another  on  the  Lou 
isiana  purchase  towards  the  east,  and  the  third  on  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  river,  discovered  by  Captain 
Gray  in  1792.  In  other  words,  the  United  States  either 
acquired  Oregon  from  Spain  by  force  of  the  treaty  of 
1819,  or  they  acquired  it  by  the  discovery  of  the  Co 
lumbia  river,  and  the  subsequent  explorations  and  settle 
ments  in  the  country,  or  it  was  included  within  Lou 
isiana,  and  became  the  property  of  our  government  by 
the  purchase  of  that  territory  from  France.  But  on 
whatever  corner  of  the  triangle  the  title  of  our  republic 
rests,  whether  on  the  Spanish  treaty,  the  Louisana  pur 
chase,  or  the  discovery  of  the  Columbia,  or  on  them  all 
taken  together,  the  fact,  and  the  main  important  fact 
which  we  now  care  to  notice  is,  that  Oregon,  with  the 
boundaries  just  mentioned,  has  become  and  is  a  portion 
or  territory  of  the  United  States.  Nor  is  it  a  useless 
portion.  Already  emigrants,  many  of  them  natives  of 


GEOGRAPHICAL    EXTENSION.  389 

our  country,  have  found  their  way  through  the  gates  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  have  fixed  their  abodes  in 
the  valleys  of  this  far,  far  west  region.  Thither  they 
are  carrying  the  elements  of  European  civilization,  and 
the  institutions,  languages,  and  whole  social  and  political 
life  of  our  republic.  Several  states  may  be  organized 
out  of  this  new  territory,  whose  addition  to  the  Union 
will  give  to  the  United  States  a  commanding  and  de 
sirable  position  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  From  that 
remote  quarter  of  our  country  the  commerce  of  Asia 
may  be  reached  with  facility,  and  the  glowing  visions  of 
the  early  navigators  may  yet  be  realized.  They  will  be 
realized,  though  not  so  much  by  having  found  a  route  to 
the  Indies  as  by  the  fact  that,  when  our  institutions 
are  firmly  established  in  Oregon,  the  Americanized  Eu 
ropean  race  will  have  progressed  westward  until  Asia 
furnishes  their  nearest  foreign  market. 

But  another  result  may  follow,  which  the  early  navi 
gators  and  their  patrons  neither  saw  in  vision  nor  rea 
soned  out  by  enlarged  views  of  the  state  of  mankind. 
The  result  to  which  I  refer  may  be  stated  briefly,  as  fol 
lows  : 

The  popular  institutions,  and  the  arts,  sciences,  mo 
rals,  and  religion  of  the  American  people  being  extended 
beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  planted  along  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific,  may  be  gradually  transferred  to  the 
Asiatic  coast,  and  the  race  of  Shem  be  changed  into 
Christians  and  Democrats.  Oregon  may  thus  become  a 
most  important  position  in  the  geographical  progress  of 
civilization.  It  will  be  the  high  tower  from  which 
the  artillery  of  Christianity  may  be  levelled  against  the 
paganism  of  the  Old  World,  and  from  which  the  de 
mocracy  of  the  west  may  advance  with  renewed  youth 


390 


PROGRESS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


into  the  ancient  seats  of  Asiatic  legitimacy.  The  pre 
sent  generation  may  pass  away  before  this  result  begins 
to  develope  itself;  but  already  the  accumulated  waves 
of  emigration  are  carrying  thousands  to  the  valleys  on 
the  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  soon  the  wilder 
ness  of  Oregon  will  become  a  land  of  fruitful  fields, 
where  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufactures  will 
flourish,  and  where  the  arts  of  peace  and  the  refinements 
of  life  will  be  cultivated.  Civilization  having  reposed 
for  a  season  upon  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  will  send 
her  sweet  influences  still  onward  towards  the  setting  sun, 
and  diffuse  her  blessings  among  the  many  millions  of 
Oriental  Asia. 

We  have  now  reviewed  the  geographical  progress  of 
the  United  States.  The  actual  republic  has  travelled 
from  the  ridge  of  the  Alleghanies  away  towards  the  base 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  vast  valley  of  the  in 
terior  has  added  state  after  state  to  the  Union.  Every 
year  has  witnessed  a  new  step  in  this  march  of  our  in 
stitutions.  A  synopsis  of  the  additions  that  have  been 
made  to  the  old  thirteen  Revolutionary  states,  exhibits 
the  following  array  of  names  and  figures. 

The  states  already  formed  out  of  the  territory  recog 
nised  as  belonging  to  our  republic  at  the  close  of  the 
Revolution,  are 


Vermont,  . 
Kentucky,  . 
Tennessee, . 
Ohio,.  .  . 
Indiana,  .  . 
Mississippi, 
Illinois,  .  . 
Alabama, 
Maine,  .  . 
Michigan,  . 


admitted  into  the  Union 


A  D.  1791. 
1792. 
1796. 
1802. 
1816. 
1817. 
1818. 
1819. 
1820. 
1837. 


CONSERVATIVE   INFLUENCES.  391 

The  states  already  formed  out  of  the  territory  of  the 
Louisiana  purchase,  are 

Louisiana,  .     .     .    admitted  into  the  Union  in     ....  1812. 

Missouri,  '  .     .     .     .       "  "  "         1820. 

Arkansas,   .    .     .     .       "  "  "        1836. 

Iowa, "  "  "         1845. 

The  states  formed  out  of  the  other  territorial  acquisi 
tions  of  our  government  are 

Florida admitted  into  the  Union  in     ....     1845. 

Texas, «  «  »         •    1845. 

The  population  of  the  above  sixteen  states  is  at  pre 
sent  about  nine  millions. 


CONSERVATIVE  INFLUENCES. 

BUT  suppose  years  have  passed  by,  and  the  waste 
lands  in  the  great  west  have  become  cultivated  and  co 
vered  with  an  industrious  population,  it  is  a  most  inter 
esting  inquiry  to  ask,  By  what  means,  or  agencies,  or  in 
fluences,  are  these  many  millions  to  be  retained  in  a  single 
republic  ?  Do  not  all  created  things  tend  continually 
to  dissolution  ?  The  nations  of  the  Old  World,  where 
are  they  ?  Where  is  the  nation  that  is  two  thousand  years 
old  ?  Where  is  the  nation  that  is  one  thousand  years 
old  ?  Races  of  men  have  been  perpetuated  through  nu 
merous  centuries ;  but  nations  appear  upon  the  stage, 
play  their  part,  and  when  their  work  is  done,  they  are 
resolved  into  their  original  elements.  Is  our  republic 
too  to  pass  suddenly  away  ?  Or  if  hopes  of  its  perma 
nence  exist,  on  what  are  they  founded  ? 


392  PROGRESS    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Without  pretending  to  enumerate  all  the  influences 
which  combine  to  preserve  our  government,  we  think 
the  main  elements  of  its  perpetuity  and  progress  are 
contained  in  the  moral,  political,  and  mecJwnical  en 
ginery  with  which  it  is  surrounded  and  pervaded. 
These  three  classes  of  means  we  think  warrant  the  hope 
that  our  system  of  government  will  be  permanent,  and 
sufficient  for  the  immense  population  that  will  in  time 
congregate  within  its  limits. 

In  the  moral  class  of  influences  may  be  enumerated 
education,  religion,  uniformity  of  language,  laws,  and 
habits,  and  the  dispersion  of  near  family  relations  thro  ugh 
different  and  distant  states. 

In  the  political  class  stand  the  federative  system  and 
the  ballot-box. 

In  the  mechanical  class  of  influences  may  be  enu 
merated  the  power  of  steam,  the  facilities  of  travelling, 
the  public  press,  the  rapid  communication  of  intelligence, 
the  improvements  in  the  arts,  &c. 

A  developement  of  almost  any  one  of  these  influ 
ences,  in  its  effects  upon  the  destiny  of  the  human  race, 
would  of  itself  require  a  volume,  and  indeed  upon  many 
of  them  volumes  have  been  wTitten.  Allow  us  cursorily 
• — with  almost  enigmatical  brevity — to  present  a  few  de 
tails  respecting  them  in  their  connexion  with  our  republic. 

I.  The  first  class  of  influences — the  moral  class — em 
bracing  education  and  religion,  has  in  all  its  branches  a 
conservative  force,  which  though  silent,  is  most  effica 
cious  in  binding  together  the  different  interests  of  our 
country. 

(1.)  Education  has  diffused  and  is  diffusing  its  light 
among  all  the  millions  that  have  congregated  within  the 
limits  of  the  United  States.  I  do  not  refer  merely  to 
that  education  which  in  a  few  chosen  seats  of  learning 


CONSERVATIVE  INFLUENCES.         393 

makes  men  acquainted  with  the  higher  sciences.  Though 
this  education  is  exerting  a  great  power  upon  our  coun 
try,  it  is  comparatively  a  small  item  in  the  aggregate  of 
the  nation's  intellectual  discipline.  The  developement 
of  mind  in  the  United  States  is  in  fact  the  work  of  a 
system  of  instruction  both  private  and  public,  which  is 
practised  all  over  the  country,  and  which  makes  its  voice 
heard  in  universities,  in  colleges,  in  academies,  in  semi 
naries,  in  private  families,  in  workshops,  in  brick  school 
houses,  and  in  log  cabin  school  houses,  where  the  day 
light  struggles  translucently  in  through  well  oiled  paper. 
This  however  is  only  elementary  instruction — the  mere 
beginning  of  knowledge,  and  of  intellectual  cultivation. 
The  education  of  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  is  a  work 
which  progresses  through  all  his  threescore  and  ten  years, 
and  which  is  greatly  promoted  by  his  unceasing  attention 
to  the  daily  action  of  the  political  system.  The  public 
mind — that  great  aggregate  of  twenty  millions  of  indi 
vidual  minds — receives  from  this  primary  and  progressive 
instruction  an  intelligence  and  discipline  which  prepares 
and  disposes  it  to  preserve  the  liberties  and  the  govern 
ment  which  have  been  inherited  from  the  revolutionary 
fathers. 

(2.)  Religion  is  another  moral  influence  which  exerts 
a  conservative  power  upon  our  republic.  The  various 
governments  of  the  Old  World,  both  Pagan  and  Chris 
tian,  ancient  and  modern,  believed  that  the  welfare  of 
society  required  the  state  to  take  religion  under  its  espe 
cial  protection.  What  was  the  result  ?  Socrates  drank 
the  hemlock,  Paul  was  crucified,  and  millions  have  been 
sacrificed  because  they  would  not  sacrifice  as  the  state 
commanded.  But  in  our  republican  system,  the  church 
is  divorced  from  the  state,  and  yet  the  Christian  religion 
pervades  the  land.  The  American  people  feel  no  alarm 


394  PROGRESS    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 

for  its  safety,  for  they  believe  that  it  is  heavenly  in  origin, 
is  adapted  to  the  nature  of  man,  and  contains  within 
itself  the  elements  of  its  own  perpetuity.  Seventy 
years  experience  have  most  fully  convinced  them  that 
both  its  purity  and  its  power  are  better  preserved  by 
leaving  it  to  the  voluntary  guardianship  of  each  indi 
vidual  ;  and  we  certainly  express  the  opinion  of  the 
whole  country  when  we  say  that  an  union  of  church  and 
state  would  be  one  of  the  most  grievous  curses  that 
could  be  inflicted  upon  our  nation.  Christianity  is, 
however,  the  broad  basis  of  hope  to  those  wrho  study  the 
actual  and  prospective  condition  of  the  United  States. 
Its  diffusion  and  its  mighty  energy  constitutes  it  a  relia 
ble  hope.  Its  still  small  voice  is  heard  in  the  stately 
Gothic  pile  that  adorns  the  mercantile  city,  and  it  is 
heard  in  the  little  wooden  church  that  peeps  out  among 
the  forest  trees  on  the  mountain  side.  But  churches  are 
not  religion,  and  kneeling  is  not  devotion.  The  true 
representative  of  religion  in  America  is  to  be  found  in 
the  correct  life  of  the  great  mass  of  our  citizens.  We 
say  this  not  because  all  are  Christians,  not  because  all 
are  virtuous,  and  not  because  all  obey  the  divine  laws  ; 
but  we  say  it  because  Christianity  manifests  its  presence 
over  the  land  in  the  restraints  which  it  imposes  upon  the 
evil  passions  of  all  our  citizens,  and  in  the  exemplary 
conduct  of  the  thousands  who  make  its  precepts  the 
rule  of  life.  Its  conservative  influence  in  our  republican 
system  is  at  present  every  where  felt.  But  let  us  look 
away  from  the  present,  and  as  we  gaze  into  the  remote 
future,  the  same  Religion  not  only  reveals  sublime  and 
glorious  visions  of  endless  life  in  Heaven,  but  it  also 
appears  as  the  great  moral  regenerator  of  man  upon 
earth.  Its  increasing  power  upon  the  practical  life  of 
the  American  people  will  render  them  more  capable  of 


CONSERVATIVE   INFLUENCES.  395 

preserving  and  perpetuating  the  popular  institutions 
of  the  country.  Their  Christianity  will  improve  their 
Democracy. 

(3.)  Another  conservative  influence  of  the  moral  class 
is  the  uniformity  of  habits,  laws,  and  language  that  ex 
ists  throughout  the  land.  The  present  population  of  the 
United  States  has  been  gathered  out  of  all  the  nations  of 
Europe  ;  and  yet  it  forms  but  a  single  people.  The  lan 
guage,  laws,  and  habits  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  modified 
by  the  circumstances  of  the  country,  here  predominate 
over  all  others.  Frenchmen  are  here,  Germans  are 
here,  Spaniards  are  here ;  every  corner  of  Europe  has 
its  representatives  here ;  but  through  them  all  and  above 
them  all,  the  English  language  prevails,  the  English 
common  law  is  the  basis  of  the  state  and  national  juris 
prudence,  while  the  habits,  the  manners,  and  customs 
of  the  whole  country  are  in  the  main  of  Anglican 
origin.  Local  diversities  indeed  appear  ;  but  take  the 
whole  country  as  it  actually  is,  and  we  have  the  unifor 
mity  just  mentioned.  The  frequent  dispersion  of  mem 
bers  of  the  same  family  into  different  sections  of  the 
country,  greatly  contributes  to  this  uniformity,  and  ex 
erts  a  powerful  influence  in  favour  of  the  Union.  Com 
merce  and  the  innumerable  interests  of  private  life,  send 
one  member  of  a  family  to  the  north,  another  to  the  west, 
and  another  to  the  south.  Who  has  not  brothers  or  sis 
ters,  or  near  family  connexions  out  of  the  state  in  which 
he  resides  ?  This  dispersion,  this  constant  motion,  this 
literal  circulation  of  the  blood  of  the  country,  has  a  pow 
erful  influence  in  binding  together  the  American  people, 
and  will  henceforth  be  a  mighty  power  in  preserving  the 
Union. 

II.  But  there  is  a  second  class  of  conservative  influ- 


396  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

ences — the  political  class — which  is  worthy  of  more  than 
the  passing  notice  that  we  can  now  bestow  upon  it. 

(1.)  The  federative  principle,  the  elemental  principle 
of  our  political  system,  is  that  the  states  severally  have 
the  management  of  their  local  affairs,  while  the  general 
government  takes  care  of  those  interests  that  are  common 
to  the  whole  country.  This  plan  distributes  the  local 
legislation  to  the  districts  where  it  is  needed,  and  draws 
away  from  the  national  government  innumerable  cares 
and  subjects  of  excitement.  Such  a  principle  gives  to 
the  Union  several  peculiar  organic  properties ;  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  of  which  is  an  indefinite  expansi 
bility.  State  after  state  has  been  added,  and  millions 
after  millions  have  become  citizens  ;  and  yet  the  political 
machinery  has  the  same  easy  action  with  which  it  moved 
in  its  early  days.  We  believe  that  the  addition  of  other 
states  and  of  other  millions  can  be  made  without  incur 
ring  the  dangers  of  an  overgrown  political  body. 

(2.)  Nor  are  the  evils  that  may  appear  in  the  action 
of  the  system,  evils  without  remedy.  The  state  consti 
tutions  may  be  amended  and  modified  as  the  people  of 
the  state  desire ;  the  only  restriction  being  that  each 
state  shall  remain,  in  good  faith,  a  republic.  The  na 
tional  constitution  may  also  be  modified  where  its  action 
becomes  injurious.  But,  beside  these  provisions  for 
changing  the  constitutions,  the  people  at  the  ballot-box 
have  the  power  of  correcting  the  evils  that  may  arise 
from  the  improper  management  of  the  government, 
whether  they  appear  in  the  state  or  in  the  national  ad 
ministration.  In  nations  where  offices  are  hereditary, 
the  correction  of  an  abuse  is  often  a  revolution.  To  free 
the  country  from  a  bad  prince  or  wicked  officer  his  head 
must  be  cut  off — his  real  head  of  flesh  and  blood,  and 
bone  and  muscle,  must  be  removed.  In  this  cut-throat 


CONSERVATIVE  INFLUENCES.          397 

way  the  English  corrected  the  abuses  of  Charles  I.,  and 
the  French  in  revolutionary  days  sought  release  from  the 
oppressions  of  their  government  by  destroying  their 
princes.  But  in  the  United  States  there  is  a  species  of 
decapitation  by  the  ballot-box,  which  merely  cuts  off  a 
man's  head  politically,  and  leaves  him  all  his  actual 
top-gear  just  as  nature  made  it.  This  is  much  the 
most  quick  and  harmless  process,  and  is  quite  as  effica 
cious  as  the  regicidal  revolutionary  guillotining  which  in 
legitimate  governments  destroys  the  prince  in  order  to 
escape  from  his  tyranny.  In  the  United  States  the  popu 
lar  vote  is  the  main  engine  for  correcting  abuses  ;  but 
its  action  is  powerful,  and  a  knowledge  of  its  power  dis 
poses  the  people  quietly  to  abide  its  decision.  This 
sure  and  effective  method  of  redressing  grievances,  either 
real  or  imaginary,  brings  increased  strength  into  our  go 
vernment,  and  has  a  direct  tendency  to  insure  its  per 
petuity. 

III.  The  third  and  last  class  of  influences — the  me 
chanical  class — embracing  the  public  press,  the  power 
of  steam,  the  improvements  in  the  arts,  &c.,  has  a  great 
and  direct  power  in  preserving  and  perpetuating  our 
republican  system  in  all  its  geographical  and  numerical 
extension. 

t  (1.)  Many  of  the  friends  of  our  government  appre 
hended  that  it  would  in  time  be  in  danger  of  dissolution 
from  too  great  an  extension  of  territory,  and  too  great  an 
accumulation  of  interfering  interests.  But  the  power  of 
steam  has  in  many  respects  almost  annihilated  space. 
The  great  rivers  intersecting  our  country  in  all  directions 
furnish  highways  for  communication  from  one  point  to 
another,  and  steam-power  brings  the  north  and  the  south, 
the  east  and  the  west  into  close  proximity.  The  Missis 
sippi  and  its  numerous  branches  are  almost  all  navigable 

2L 


398  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

through  their  entire  lengths,  with  the  exception  of  one 
or  two  hundred  miles  from  their  sources.  These  chan 
nels — the  canals  cut  by  mighty  Nature's  hand — intersect 
all  the  great  valley  of  the  interior  from  the  Alleghany  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  steamboats  may  ascend  the 
current  on  voyages  varying  from  two  thousand  to  thirty- 
five  hundred  miles.  These  natural  highways  and  the 
power  of  steam  applied  to  navigate  them,  connect  the 
remotest  corners  of  this  valley,  and  unite  its  interests 
and  its  resources.  The  same  power  is  applied  upon  the 
rivers  and  bays  along  the  coast  of  the  Atlantic,  and  even 
the  winds  and  waves  of  the  ocean  have  recently  yielded 
to  its  all-conquering  might.  But  where  the  natural 
channels  fail  the  hand  of  man  has  been  applied,  and 
rail-roads  have  been  constructed  which  intersect  the 
country  in  various  directions,  and  afford  new  scope  to 
the  mighty  power  of  steam.  The  rail-road  car  and  the 
steamboat  have  thus  combined  to  bring  the  remote  points 
of  the  country  together,  and  through  them  distance 
ceases  to  be  an  impediment  to  the  action  of  government. 
The  most  recent  calculations  announce  that  the  journey 
from  New  York  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  on  the 
Pacific,  can  be  made  at  rail-road  speed  in  five  days — a 
length  of  time  which  not  many  years  ago  was  consumed 
in  travelling  from  Bost6n  to  Baltimore.  By  this  appli 
cation  of  steam  power  the  settled  limits  of  the  country 
approach  each  other  much  more  rapidly  in  time  than 
they  recede  in  space.  Other  improvements  may  perhaps 
be  made  in  the  application  -of  this  agent,  and  distance 
may  be  yet  more  rapidly  traversed.  The  transcendental 
philosophers  who  first  announced  that  space  was  merely 
an  idea — nay,  not  even  an  idea  but  pure,  sheer,  down 
right  nothing — most  probably  were  favoured  with  some 
presentiments  of  the  power  of  steam  ;  for  it  has  for  many 


CONSERVATIVE  INFLUENCES.          399 

practical  purposes  annihilated  space.  By  increasing  the 
facilities  for  travelling,  and  by  destroying  the  barriers  of 
mountains  and  made  extended  plains,  it  has  exerted  and 
it  will  continue  to  exert  a  mighty  conservative  influence 
upon  the  United  States. 

(2.)  But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  public  press  in  its 
connexion  with  our  republic  ?  Blessed  be  Guttemberg 
and  Faust !  Little  did  those  primitive  type-cutters,  four 
hundred  long  years  ago,  imagine  that  they  were  rinding 
out  an  art  which,  being  carried  to  this  new  continent, 
would  here  become  the  powerful  engine  of  commerce, 
justice,  government,  praise,  flattery,  reviling,  quackery, 
ribaldry,  and  all  the  good  and  evil  passions  of  our  na 
ture.  Yet  such  has  been  the  result.  By  the  favour  of 
printing,  mankind,  and  especially  the  mankind  of  the 
United  States,  are  no  longer  left  to  grope  along  through 
the  impenetrable  darkness  of  space  and  time,  exposed, 
unarmed  to  the  plots  of  wily  politicians.  The  press  has 
here  become  a  new  engine — a  new  power  in  human  go 
vernment.  Newspapers,  pamphlets,  magazines,  reviews, 
and  their  various  modifications,  transmit  information  in 
every  direction  in  a  readable  form,  and  at  a  cheap  price. 
And  though  like  many  of  the  rivers  of  the  west,  they 
often  hold  in  solution  much  slimy  and  filthy  matter,  they 
are  invaluable  agents  for  the  communication  of  know 
ledge.  It  is  often  said  that  they  are  the  means  of  evil 
as  well  as  of  good ;  but  the  evil  they  do  is  small,  and 
the  good  invaluable.  The  thousands  of  printing  presses 
distributed  over  the  United  States,  act  as  centres  of  illu 
mination,  from  which  light  flows  off  to  every  recess  of 
the  land.  Daily  and  weekly  they  report  the  action  of 
our  government,  both  in  its  state  branches  and  in  its 
great  central  head.  They  collect  and  distribute  infor 
mation  touching  the  interests  of  commerce,  agriculture, 


400  PROGRESS   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

manufactures,  religion,  and  the  innumerable  and  com 
plicated  affairs  of  the  people.  Discussion  is  free,  print 
ing  is  cheap,  and  the  sound  sense  of  the  public  is  the 
only  censorship.  What  is  the  result  ?  Enter  the  stately 
mansion  in  the  commercial  city,  and  the  newspaper  is 
there  ;  enter  the  farm-house,  and  the  newspaper  is  there  ; 
enter  the  little  hut  on  the  mountain,  and  there  too  is  the 
ubiquitary  newspaper.  It  is  read  in  every  township,  and 
town,  and  hamlet:  read  by  the  farmer,  the  mechanic, 
and  the  cabman.  By  this  diffusion  of  intelligence  the 
people  acquire  a  knowledge  of  public  affairs,  a  know 
ledge  that  is  more  or  less  perfect,  according  to  the  degree 
of  early  education  and  the  habits  of  life.  The  manner 
in  which  this  information  is  communicated  is  also  de 
sirable.  For  in  the  newspaper  system,  intelligence,  no 
matter  how  exciting,  generally  reaches  individuals  at 
their  homes  or  when  engaged  in  their  usual  employ 
ments.  Hence  reason  has  time  to  act,  passion  loses  its 
food,  and  the  dangers  of  large  assemblies  are  avoided. 
In  all  these  and  other  ways,  the  public  press  exerts  an 
immense  conservative  influence  upon  the  institutions  of 
the  United  States. 

(3.)  The  various  improvements  in  the  arts  also  have 
been  favourable  to  our  country.  Since  the  American 
Revolution,  human  ingenuity,  by  a  little  well-contrived 
machinery,  has  seized  the  powers  of  nature,  and  set 
them  to  spin,  and  weave,  and  plane,  and  saw,  and  cut, 
and  pound ;  and  much  of  the  ancient  work  of  human 
hands  has  been  committed  to  cords,  and  wire,  and  iron 
shafts.  The  magnetic  telegraph  outstrips  the  power  of 
steam,  and  conveys  intelligence  with  the  lightning  itself. 
In  brief,  the  various  arts  of  life  have  gone  on  towards 
perfection.  This  rapid  advancement — these  numerous 
changes  have,  in  the  Old  World,  produced  effects  pene- 


CONSERVATIVE  INFLUENCES.  401 

trating  deep  into  the  frame-work  of  society.  There  they 
have  unsettled  the  habits  of  former  generations;  but 
here,  where  everything  has  been  growing  and  progress 
ing,  they  work  in  with  the  flexible  occupations  of  the 
people ;  and,  what  is  a  consideration  of  the  gravest  im 
port,  they  have,  in  the  main,  a  tendency  to  bring  to 
gether — to  centralize — to  harmonize  the  conflicting  in 
terests  of  different  sections  of  the  country. 

These  are  the  main  influences  by  whose  combined 
action  our  republican  system  will  be  perpetuated,  and 
to  them  we  trust  for  its  future  progress  and  permanence. 
If  these  foundations  be  destroyed,  we  have  no  others  on 
which  to  build. 

The  dangers  to  which  our  government  is  exposed, 
arise  in  a  great  part  from  the  large  extent  of  country, 
from  the  conflicts  of  opposing  interests,  and  from  the 
possibility  of  corruption  gaining  the  ascendency  over 
honesty  and  patriotism.  But  these  dangers  will,  we  trust, 
be  averted  by  the  conservative  influences  which  we  have 
enumerated.  The  widely  separated  portions  of  country 
are  by  steam-power  and  electricity  brought  together; 
and  by  their  agency  within  the  United  States,  space  has 
ceased  to  retard  the  action  of  government.  The  same 
agencies  have  also  diminished  the  difficulties  arising  from 
the  conflicting  interests  of  distant  sections  of  the  country. 
But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  danger  to  which  our  re 
public  is  exposed  from  the  evil  passions  of  our  nature  ? 
May  not  corruption,  which  besets  all  men,  societies,  and 
nations,  creep  into  the  very  vitals  of  our  nation,  and 
finally  destroy  the  whole  political  body  ?  A  recent  po 
pular  writer,  who  finds  great  fault  with  every  form  and 
manifestation  of  popular  authority,  seizes  upon  this  last 
mentioned  possibility,  and  clothes  it  in  a  dress  of  his 
own.  Diving  into  the  constitution  of  things,  he  comes 

2L* 


402  PROGRESS   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

up  with  an  idea  drawn,  or  rather  pulled,  from  the  depths 
of  human  nature,  and  which,  when  squeezed  from  several 
pages  of  verbiage,  exhibits  the  following  appearance : 

All  men  are  infected  with  original  sin,  and  are  by  na 
ture  prone  to  evil :  hence,  the  more  men  there  are  em 
ployed  in  the  management  of  a  government,  the  more 
corruption  there  is  in  it :  consequently,  all  popular  go 
vernments  are  full  of  wickedness,  and  exposed  to  in 
evitable  ruin. 

This  is  an  alarming  conclusion ;  but  it  is  a  conclu 
sion  that  comes  after  an  assertion  admitted  to  be  true. 
For  we  are  all  sinners — all — every  mother's  son  of  us ; 

In  Adam's  fall 
We  sinned  all. 

But  admitting  this,  what  shall  we  say  of  the  next  step  in 
the  idea,  where  it  is  asserted  that  the  more  men  employed 
in  the  management  of  a  government,  the  more  corruption 
there  is  in  the  government  ?  Is  not  this  the  reverse  of 
the  truth  ?  Cannot  a  despot,  a  Henry  VIII.,  or  a  Louis 
XIV.,  infuse  more  corruption,  more  old  fashioned  wick 
edness,  more  abomination  into  a  government  than  has 
appeared,  or  can  appear  in  a  republic  ?  There  is,  we  ad 
mit,  a  great  amount  of  human  nature  in  the  United  States. 
But  we  think  that  the  actual  practical  tendency  of  the 
republican  system  is  to  repress  rather  than  to  give  a  loose 
rein  to  this  nature.  We  do  not  say  that  popular  go 
vernment  will  regenerate  man's  moral  nature.  That  is 
the  work  of  a  higher  system  of  agencies — a  system  of 
divine  appointment.  But  wre  believe,  that  in  a  republic 
there  are  restraints  —  palliatives  —  correctives  —  which 
tend  to  keep  down  the  evil  qualities  of  the  heart — and 
bring  out  the  good.  For,  create  in  a  man  the  sentiment 
of  self  respect — send  him  to  the  ballot-box — let  him  un- 


CONSERVATIVE  INFLUENCES.          403 

\ 

derstand  that  he  is  a  part  of  the  governing  power — let 
him  see  that  he  is  one  of  the  sovereigns — and  that  he  has 
a  share,  and  can  obtain  a  yet  greater  share  in  the  ma 
nagement  of  the  government,  give  this  scope  to  his  ac 
tive  powers  and  to  his  hopes,  and  he  becomes  more  every 
inch  a  man  than  if  he  were  trodden  down  under  the  iron 
heel  of  a  legitimate  despot.  He  begins  to  feel  that  there 
are  higher  duties  and  destinies  than  merely  to  live,  «  pro 
pagate,  and  rot."  He  becomes  a  more  worthy  man.  This, 
as  we  conceive,  is  the  effect  of  republican  institutions 
upon  individual  character,  and  if  this  be  a  statement  in 
accordance  with  the  actual  facts,  then  the  more  men  there 
are  employed  in  the  management  of  a  government  the 
less  corruption  there  is  in  it.  The  danger  of  ruin  from 
this  source  is  consequently  not  peculiar  to  a  republic. 

But  we  do  not  rest  our  hopes  of  democratic  institu 
tions  in  America  upon  fine-spun,  logical  deductions. 
We  trust  for  their  permanence  to  the  more  substantial, 
real  and  tangible  influences  already  mentioned,  of  which 
the  most  prominent  are  education,  Christianity,  uni 
formity  of  habits,  the  nature  of  the  federative  system,  the 
ballot-box,  the  power  of  steam,  and  the  public  press. 
A  Bible,  a  church,  a  school-house,  and  a  printing-press; 

these  are  real,  positive,  powerful  bodily  things actual 

existences  whose  operation  upon  the  character  of  our 
country  can  be  relied  upon  with  certainty.  They  yield 
more  consolation,  more  well-grounded  hope,  than  all  the 
speculations,  reasonings,  and  nicely  wire- drawn  theories 
of  a  rheumatic  brain.  Sustained  by  these,  our  nation 
may  be  perpetuated  to  distant  centuries,  and  millions 
through  ages  yet  to  come  may  here  gather  around  the 
Eagle  and  the  Cross — the  symbols  of  Liberty  and  Re 
demption.  Relying  upon  the  infallible  action  of  these 
preserving  influences,  the  Patriot  as  he  looks  forward  to 


404       PROGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  future  condition  of  the  United  States,  sees  gorgeous 
visions  of  a  prosperous  and  happy  country.  Following 
the  Genius  of  America  to  her  lofty  watch-tower  among 
her  native  rocks  and  forests,  he  calmly  looks  down  upon 
the  tide  of  population  which  rolls  across  the  valley  of 
the  Missisippi — he  hears  the  distant  murmur  that  ascends 
from  the  multitudes  who  spread  themselves  along  the 
streams,  and  over  the  plains  of  the  distant  west — he  sees 
their  rising  cities,  their  waving  fields,  their  happy  homes, 
and  hears  a  whole  nation  chaunt  the  coral  song  whose 
strains  gently  swelling  along  the  mountain  slopes,  make 
known  the  prosperity  of  a  virtuous  republican  people 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  God  and  their  native  land. 

Here  end  our  lectures  on  the  origin  and  progress  of 
the  United  States. 


THE     END . 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 


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